With two full time working parents at home, my six-year-old and three-year-old boys have done their fair share of destroying the house. I had to laugh when my son climbed onto my lap at 4pm, lamenting that I was “still working,” and that it was “all” I do. After explaining that I’ve always worked like this, just in an office where he didn’t have a front row seat to the nonstop excitement that is video editing, I set up yet another “boredom buster” to buy myself more time.
So far, the most successful ways of keeping my children entertained independently have been:
Obstacle courses– Whether it’s a series of water activities outside or letting them jump on all of your couch cushions in the hallway, an obstacle course can help get the wiggles out with minimal damage and interruption.
A Lego Table– I built an amazing Lego table out of particle board and a 12-pack of baseplates for their birthday party back in February and haven’t taken it down since. Our front living room is now the Lego room. Hours and hours of engineering and entertainment. Watch your step.
Rube Goldberg Machines– This is my latest act of genius. When cleaning out a hall closet over the weekend (because it’s also borentine for us parents,) I found five cardboard tubes and upcycled them to the boys. I showed them videos of marbles and bouncy balls traveling down, over and across elaborate systems, and let their imaginations run wild. It only cost a solid half-hour of cleanup.
Sensory Bins– My three-year-old loves sensory play. He gets out our play-dough bin himself and plays independently. I added a “mud kitchen” to our backyard play area complete with a sink that pumps water so they can make whatever leaf and grass soup they’d like. One of his favorite bins is aquafaba- whipped chickpea water- with food coloring in a baking pan to play in with his plastic dinosaurs.
Hunger Games– Sometimes the sibling arguments and cabin fever hit a new level, and if you arm them, at least you can also get a little entertainment along with the constant screaming. We’ve got pool noodle lightsabers providing our young padawans with practice in the Jedi arts. I’ve taught my kids how to make slingshots and bows and arrows out of rubber bands and the sticks we find around the yard. Will I regret this? Oh, definitely. Was I able to work for an uninterrupted hour and by some miracle no one lost an eye? I’m calling it a win.
With only two more weeks of virtual school and 105-degree temperatures already on our Arizona doorstep, I’m going to need all of the distractions we can get. If boredom is the birthplace of imagination, my kids are going to be Willy freakin’ Wonka.
Our Life in A-Z 