10 Things My Kids Have Found to Do When There is Nothing to Do

I was thinking about how much free time my girls get each day. Sometimes I feel guilty for not having enough planned for each day. (Savannah's favorite phrase is often, "I'm bored; there's nothing to do.") But then I realized that in their unscheduled time they have actually been at their most creative. Here is a list of some of the things my kids have found to do in the last month when left to explore and create using their own imaginations.Planned a birthday party complete with handmade decorations. They drew pictures on paper plates to give the party a theme, made coordinating hats out of construction paper and pom-poms, and made a pinata out of a paper lunch bag and string (they stuffed it with Fruity Pebbles and granola bars).Made a cookbook. They wrote out the recipes they knew including sweet tea, lemonade and milkshakes and then punched holes in the paper and put them in a binder.Made a museum. They collected items from around the house including their art work, family memorabilia, rocks, and more. The items were organized by collection into different rooms. They then made museum maps of the rooms which they handed out as they gave tours of their museums. Put on a circus. Using face paints, the dress up bins and various step stools, hula hoops and a stick pony balanced across two bins, they girls organized a circus with three acts: acrobats (walking the tight rope stick pony pole), lion taming and clowns.Created magic tricks. Savannah asked me to name a few favorite tv shows. She then wrote the initials of each show on slips of paper and put them into a brown paper bag. She asked me to draw a slip of paper while she then "read my mind" to tell me what was on the paper. She got it right and then explained the trick to me-she had written the same initials on all of the pieces of paper. Created a club house. The girls call the willow tree across the street Grand Mother Willow. They go over there and pretend her branches create a little house. They have named their club the nature club and do activities like making crowns from willow branches and flowers and painting with water on rocks using paint brushes made from sticks and leaves that are tied together with willow branches.Made new bubble baths. The girls mixed up some different assorted bubble baths to create their own unique scents. They then designed labels and adhered them to the bottles.Wrote a book. Savannah is on the 6th chapter of what she calls her "Go Girls" mystery. The Go Girls are a club that solves mysteries. In the book she is working on, the Go Girls are solving the mystery of the missing cat. Ellie is working on a horse breed book. She draws different breeds of horses on each page and then identifies the breed and lists a few identifying characteristics. Both girls are using journals I got at Borders. Ellie's is blank while Savannah's has lines on one page while the opposite page is blank allowing her to write and illustrate. The girls continue to add to their books during their down time. Made puppets and dolls. While I was resting the girls found their way into the craft supplies. They found some muslin body forms, buttons, yarn and sharpie markers. The proceeded to decorate the bodies and create their own puppets. Ellie also stuffed her form using my quilting batting and hand sewed the bottom shut with needle and thread. the result was a handmade muslin doll. When I came out of my room (after trying my best not to overreact to all of the craft supplies all over the kitchen) the girls used their creations to perform the puppet show they had scripted together.Set up a beauty salon. I must admit this is my favorite! The girls will set up the bathroom with my make up and nail polish. They also bring out all of their bows and ribbons and hair brushes. Prior to my arrival they will make signs, price lists and style books for their salon. I then choose a hairstyle from the book and they perform their magic. I sit back while they brush my hair, style it, do my make up and paint my nails. Yes, their technique needs some work but I always leave their make up and hair style arranged until my husband comes home from work and can praise them for how pretty I look. For one dad's theory on why modern children get bored so easily, check out this article on the Wisdom Journal.