"Mum.....I'm bored"

[LizinFrance]

.....and its driving me mad! When I just had 2 kids I seemed to be really organised with craft things, but now I have the 4, nine times out of ten we seem to just stick the TV on! Have got into quite a rut, so I want to put a list on the fridge of "Things to do" when they are bored.

I've quite an age gap dd1 12 yrs, ds1 10 yrs, ds2 3 yrs and dd2 1yr, so probably have to be 2 lists, one for biggies and one littlies - and needs to be quick and easy and not too much prep for me to do!

Ideas anyone please?

Thanks and have a good week end!

Liz
x

Interesting Liz....think we are all losing our creativity thanks to technology...or we are slaves to it (actually maybe that should be the DC not us)?

Don't have the large family yet, but am expecting no. 3 this autumn, older two will be 11 & 13...trying not to think about how entertainment will work with those dynamics.

What about baking, buying some fake food for the youngest, lots of plastic bowls and wooden spoons and leaving the older two 'in charge'. Buy some interesting cookie cutters, sprinkles etc.

Art/craft. Buy a few yards of washable table cover from John Lewis and then some small picture canvases, already framed. Baby can do hand prints, older ones can paint away and you can hang them on the wall? There are a few decent art web sites, I'm not looking to make any Picasso's but we've done some half decent stuff that I proudly display!

Photo frames...print off loads of photos, get kids to make collages.

Trying to convince myself these are fun.

Phew, exhausted already. That's maybe 90 mins of a rainy afternoon taken care of....good luck with the next 4 hours!

My youngest three 5, 3 and 2 play all day with cardboard boxes, picnic rugs and cushions. They make endless dens with these, and are happy to pull them all down and start again and again and again..... Puzzles and colouring are also big favourites.

for the older 2 my suggestion would be tidy your bedroom or do your homework. You'll be surprised at how fast they find something else to do and are no longer bored! My los love a big cardboard box, keeps them amused for ages, you can always empty a big toy box if you haven't got one. There's generally someone in need of a birthday/get well soon/just moved/new job/new baby card, I've got one of those plastic draw sets with lots of bits of coloured/textured paper, sticky bits, old christmas/birthday cards, coloured pens and glue etc. Put some music on and get the older ones to show the los how to dance.

I am the same OP, and resolve to be better this year.
Cardboard boxs are always great, but dh has just this minute broken it up and binned it . Last summer we went on a nature walk with the camera on afternoon. The next day we printed loads of pictures and everybody made a collage of the nature walk and we hung them at the top of the stairs.
My dd's love making garlands. We use any old scraps of paper, choose a shape (hearts for eg) and draw them on top to top. Cut out, paint and fold in half to make a single double sided heart. We sellotape a piece of string in the middle , glue the heart sides together. We have loads hanging above windows, beds etc.
The pound shop had canvases in before Christmas.
My dd's like to do act something out silently and I have to guess what it is. (being a carpenter, chef, astronout)

Will have a think. And will watch this thread!

tons of cheapy cheapy arts and crafts stuff here sure you'll find something!

Some fab ideas - thanks everyone! Remember now we use to spend ages making snowflakes with the older ones! Thanks for the site bigcar - will look through that tonight. x

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