Bored dog

**updated 6/2020

“I’m bored” has to be one of the most disliked phrases ever to fall upon parents’ ears. While this phrase normally gets tossed out in July, the strange events of this spring has us already fighting the doldrums. Aren’t we all a bit sick of our homes and immediate surroundings?

Never fear – we have some solutions to this year’s early onset of summer boredom:

Take it outside

Hiking with little kids

Depending on where you live, your pool may or may not be an option right now; or it may look quite different than it has in years past.

While soaring temperatures may make the outdoors appear less tempting, there are so many opportunities to get outside (try shady areas) and find frugal boredom busters. Such as:

  • Go for a hike on a trail
  • Have a picnic
  • Play at the park
  • Discover a creek
  • Go fishing
  • Start a nature journal
  • Water balloon fight
  • Pick fresh berries 
  • Make a lemonade stand
  • Camp out in the backyard
  • Set up a scavenger hunt
  • Try geocaching 

Keep it indoors

Pretend space ship

Some families are also still not ready to encounter too many people or the heat is already unbearable. For those with readers, you could get by with just a new delivery of summer reading selections. For the rest of us, these ideas are helpful:

  • Try a new board game
  • Try a new summer recipe
  • Use the power of You Tube to learn a new skill: piano, knitting, origami, etc
  • Make a fort – and sleep in it
  • Use junk mail and recyclables for arts and crafts
  • Play with a cardboard box 
  • Clean house 
  • Have a movie marathon
  • Host a book club

Try something out of the box

Smiling Family with little girl

Normally, we would suggest a festival, concert or free community event to entertain the family. However, since large public gatherings are still not encouraged, it’s time to get creative about how you move about in your surroundings this summer.

Here are a few out-of-the box opportunities to get outside the house for a change of scenery:

It’s possible that all of us are feeling the monotony of living our own version of Groundhog Day this year. It can be tough! As always though, we believe that with a little planning and a lot of brainstorming there are still a lot of ways to make this summer fun filled and interesting.

One added bonus of the pandemic? We’ve definitely learned how to do maximize our entertainment opportunities with a minimal budget! If you’ve found some new ideas and inspiration that stretches the family dollar, please share them with us on Facebook!