SBBK - Boredom Buster 1

Summer Boredom Buster Kids - Fun!

My kids enjoy playing with the weirdest things.

I found these cups in the clearance party section at Walmart. I spent a quarter for each package.

At school, in Gym, my son learned about cup stacking.

So, that is what we did today!

Everyone enjoyed playing with them.

I mean LOVED it!

This is fun for all ages, and they have asked several times to play with the cups since I pulled them out the first time!

Try it!

SBBK - Writing 1

Summer Boredom Buster Kids - Writing!

I have to confess that I have my kids writing every single day. (including the weekend)

I want their handwriting/penmanship to be stellar, so I push it every single day.

Reading is the same way. They must read 20-30 minutes a day.

Okay, rant over.

Something I am using for my kids is Handwriting Without Tears.

They do this workbook probably 3x a week.

 Different levels, different activities, all quiet. They have to do 4 pages (of their choice) during quiet time/naptime.

My 3 year old and 2 year old enjoy coloring on the walls.

Literally!

We have a chalkboard and whiteboard system on our walls down stairs.

The reward for taking a nap without a fight (somedays) is writing.

My kids nap until they turn 5.

It is what works for them AND me.

I love seeing improvements in my children's handwriting over the summer.

I know everything is going to technology and cursive is a thing of the past, but not for my kiddos.

My son started cursive in May and is really enjoying it. I think I am the only person who still uses cursive, who is under the age of 35. Haha.

SBBK - Math 4

Summer Boredom Buster Kids - Math!

M&M Math (school agers)

I gave the older 3 a cup of M&Ms.

I drew a graph and had them sort the candy by color.

 Then they wrote their findings. 1st grader:

Kinder: (she needed some assistance in what I was looking for)

Then we added them up.

My 3rd grader also did this and then I had him do some more complex problems orally.

For example. All of the red totals minus the blue totals for all 3 kids.

Or, All of the yellow totals multiplied by 4.

You get the idea.

We did this sort of quizzing for 20 minutes.

Once we were done with all of the math I had him explain one problem to the girls.

The sum of the brown candies multiplied by 2 would be ... and why.

They enjoyed him teaching it to them, and he liked that he knew more than them.

Haha.

SBBK - Math 3

Summer Boredom Buster Kids - Math!

M&M Math! (Toddlers)

I drew circles in M&M colors.

I wrote a number in each circle and my 3 year old had to put the right color and number in each circle.

Seen below:

My 2.5 year old just got circles and had to put the M&M in the right colored circle. Then we counted them.

Seen Below:

They both loved this.

They ate and counted over and over. I had happy toddlers at snack time. :D

This was very simple and you could do it with skittles, or jujubees, or any colored candy!

SBBK - Math 2

Summer Boredom Buster Kids - Math!

So, while the older 2 were working on TOP IT! My younger 3 were working on the number 3, 4, and 5.

I printed the worksheets from HERE or you can check out ALL of their printables 

from First-School HERE they have so many worksheets! Check them out! 

I let them use markers this time. Next time, we will do colored pencils.

They loved this, and my 5 year old (kinder) thought this was too easy for her, and eventually joined in on Top It! My 3 year old and 2 year old had a blast with this and asked "why not we doing 1 and 2?"

This is a perfect quiet activity when you are trying to make dinner too!

Name Recognition #9

My intention was to work on lowercase letters, but this bunch of cuties preferred to copy the letters.

So, that is what we did.

I found these:

We put them in a BIG pile and then I passed them out. They lined them up on my sheets and wrote the letter under. After they wrote the letter, they got to eat the gummi letter!

This was another fun and quiet activity. We will do it again because gummi letters are awesome!

Name Recognition #8

Magnet Letters!

Cheap Small Cookie Sheets and a Tub of These Foam Letters is all you need.

I chose foam because it is quiet.

First I let them free play. Then we sorted by color.

 Then we spelled our names. I made cards for them to copy the order of their names. We practiced first, middle, and last names. 

Sometimes we use these for Sunday centers. Sometimes we use these for quiet time.

I have even used them for spelling words.

Another fun activity that costs less than $16 for years of playtime.

Another use for these Magnets is match the sound to the letter game.

"This letter says Oooh" 

Name Recognition #7

Tot School/Preschool Activity

Need help recognizing and writing the alphabet? How about your child's name? Here is a perfect activity!

I prewrote the Alphabet (you can write their name) and have the kids paint with Q-Tips each letter.

This is a great activity that is little mess, and it is controlled.

It helps with pencil grip, name recognition, and focusing!

My 2 year old loved this activity as well. There are so many words you could have them paint.

Last name, sight words, spelling words, capitals, lowercases, etc.

Have fun with it and enjoy the quiet focused time with your kiddo! 

Color a Mosaic

I found a few websites that have free printables, and one was a Color by Number 

It resembled a mosaic (for the sake of the theme) so I printed ones that my girls would like and let them at it.

 Some were easier than others. :)

One followed the directions...

One did her own thing...

Both look great on the fridge. :)

Paper Mosaics

Continuing on with the theme, I grabbed my square punches and let the girls "punch" from scrap paper.

I like this Fiskars one because it uses a grip instead of a thumb pointer motion.

Here is the other one.

Peek a Boo!

I showed them an example:

Then let them do it completely by themselves.

I loved what they came up with.

 This kept them so busy, I was able to balance the books without interruption!

It was a perfect thing to do with each age group.

Try it! It is so simple, uses scraps, and uses fine motor skills they need for handwriting.