As we creep ever closer to summer, it’s time for children to respond to longer days with statements such as, “I’m bored!” It’s not always easy to keep children busy when they feel like there’s nothing to do, but you can help bored kids find some relief with Activity Jars.
Activity Jars are a tool parents, teachers and other caregivers can use to redirect bored kids. All you have to do is get a bunch of large popsicle sticks and a jar. On each popsicle stick, write an activity on it. When a kid says they are bored, they can take a popsicle stick and do the activity on it.
It’s good to have several activity jars, with various themes on the front. Kids can choose between categories such as imaginative play, water play, messy play, and more. This way, the kids will have an idea of what sort of activity they might pull out of the jar before drawing an activity stick.
Not sure what to write on the popsicle sticks? Here are a few fun ideas:
Make a Playdough Sculpture
Often kids may want to play with playdough, but they don’t have an idea of what to create. Feel free to be more specific on this stick, such as building a caterpillar, or trying to make a teacup. Children can have fun trying to shape a specific object, or perhaps just getting the playdough out is enough to spark their imagination.
Pretend Play
You can set up a whole jar full of pretend play scenarios to help spark ideas for kids. This might include setting up a pizza store, a coffee shop, or a fancy restaurant. They could play firefighter, police man, or doctor.
With a variety of different shops or jobs they could play, they’re just a dress up chest away from hours of fun.
Crafting
Crafting is another fun way to help kids with boredom. Here, you’ll need to customize the sticks to craft options you have available. It can be helpful to have the pieces needed for a particular craft presorted into a ziplock bag, so all that is needed if they draw the stick is to give them the correct bag.
Ideas for crafting could be seasonal, like coloring and decorating a Christmas Tree, or it might be something a bit more messy, like decorating slime. It depends on the child and the availability of items.
Write Your Own Book
It’s easy to make a blank book for kids to write in. Simply fold 3 pages or so of regular printer paper in half, punch a hole at the top and bottom, and tie it with string to hold all of the pages together. Now, kids can write or draw their own stories. The activity jar can be filled with prompts such as Cinderella, or Dragons, to help get kids going.
Once you’ve gotten the idea of how to make activity jars, the sky is the limit. Make a jar with ideas for different things to draw or color. Make a jar for fashion shows, or what ever else is popular with the kids. Often all children need is something to spark their imagination before they have lots of new ideas of their own. Activity jars are a great way to spark those ideas.
