Creativity keeps boredom at bay for summer

? If you’ve already heard choruses of “I’m bored” this summer, you are not alone. “I know people who hear it the minute school is out,” says Jennifer Fetsch, a teacher and former educator with Parents as Teachers. She has some solutions for fighting the summer blahs.

“I’m one of those moms, you either agree or disagree … who tries not to overschedule during the summer. We do vacation Bible school and swimming lessons, but other than that we try to go with the flow.”

And whatever the weather, once spring hits, her kids want to be outside.

“So I have to come up with some creative things we can do.”

Some suggestions:

Nature walks: “My kids are very interested in their surroundings, so we turn everything into an adventure.” Fetsch has her kids collect whatever interesting things they can find on the trail, and they take them home and stick them on contact paper to make collages. In the fall, they might do different leaves; other times, they look for shapes found in nature.

Bicycle rides: From paths around the neighborhood to the Katy Trail, the Fetsches ride everywhere they can. “We’ll ride down to a lake and look at the baby ducks.”

Play in the rain: Even if it’s a rainy day, the kids still want to be outside, so they’ll put on rain boots and pull out the umbrella and splash around. “If there is no lightning,” Fetsch says.

Paint with water: On very hot days, the neighborhood swimming pool or sprinklers may be a good option, but Fetsch also likes to have the kids paint with water. “We get out squirt bottles and paint brushes and paint with water. We paint mailboxes or bikes.”

Inside fun: On stormy days, the kids make the most of the time inside. One day, Jim brought home boxes from work and the kids turned them into robots. Then Ryan, ever the curious one, spent the rest of the day looking up information on robots while Jake played with their creation. “We get a lot of mileage out of paper towel rolls and old egg cartons.”