Boredom Busters (Free Printable)

With the advent of summer, I’m sharing a list of boredom busters today. Most of our lessons are winding down for this school year. We’ll keep the basics going during the next ten weeks, but will take a needed break from history, science, and grammar. The abbreviated schedule will give both Mom and kids time to work on non-school related projects.

Some of our children (including the boy pictured on this printable) are never at a loss for things to do or stuff to make or games to play. Their only problem is finding time to fit it all in, or picking and choosing which project to focus on at any given moment.

We have other children, though, who seem overly-susceptible to boredom, especially when their access to electronics has been restricted. These little guys would spend the entire summer playing videogames if we’d allow it. But we don’t. They are granted 15 minutes of computer games per schoolday (30 minutes on the weekends), after which they must find other, tech-free things to do with their time.

Consequently, I hear, “What can I do now, Mom?” much more often than I’d like. I’m beginning to sound like a broken record enumerating all the various options, so rather than keep having that conversation, I decided to create a handy little (printable) list of boredom busters to which I new refer these stultified sons whenever they tell me there’s nothing to do.

Nothing to do? Give our boredom busters a try!

• Read a book – play your cards right, and you may even earn some reading rewards for your efforts
• Play a game – you’ll find a few of our family’s favorites here
• Ride your bike
• Draw a picture – check out our step-by-step tutorials for drawing birds or drawing frogs
• Clean your room – use this bedroom inspection checklist to really get it in ship shape
• Write a story
• Bake some cookies – our super-easy peanut butter cookies have only 3 ingredients
• Practice the piano – use our piano practice chart to keep a record of the time you spend tinkling the ivories
• Take a walk
• Set some goals – you can use our goal-setting chart and habit trackers to measure your progress
• Work a puzzle
• Throw a Frisbee
• Organize a closet
• Write a letter – need stationery? use our free printable greeting cards
• Build with Legos
• Jump a rope
• Climb a tree
• Pull some weeds
• Make a craft – we’ve posted lots of great ideas for recycling toilet paper tubes, repurposing tin cans, and making nature crafts from pine cones
• Build a fort
• Play freeze tag
• Do some chores – download our age-appropriate chore chart if you need inspiration
• Sing a song
• Compile a list
• Dig a hole
• Plant a seed

Obviously, this is not an exhaustive list. For instance, I forgot to include “color a picture” despite the fact that I’ve posted scores of free Christian coloring pages on this website.

Do your children ever complain of being bored? What sorts of things to you suggest to remedy their boredom? Can you think of anything else that deserves a place on our list?

Banish boredom at the dinner table

Want to liven things up at mealtime? Check out our free printable conversation starters. Or get a copy of my new book, Table Talk. It will keep your family communicating all year long.

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