5 Ideas to Keep Kids Busy this Summer

By: Heidi Reichert | Unique Markets Portland

Summertime is ahead and it may feel like after three months of stay-at-home, you’re out of ideas. We’ve got you covered with fun activities to keep the kids busy and creative!

Trash to Treasures

Go dumpster diving in the recycling bin and get creative with empty tissue boxes, toilet paper rolls, paper bags, and whatever else you can find. Put out tape, glue, and kid friendly scissors and see what they come up with! They can build homes for their stuffies, make puppets, or create art pieces to display.

Chalk your Walk

Get outside and decorate your driveway or sidewalk with chalk art. Kids can scribble, draw, and create hopscotch games. Make someone’s day and write friendly messages of hope for the neighbors!

Science Experiment

Ooblek is the gooey, slimy substance that kids are inexplicably obsessed with. It’s simple to make, so weird, and oh so fun to play with.

Ingredients:
2 cups cornstarch
1 cup water
Food coloring (optional, but not really)

Instructions:
Pour 2 cups of cornstarch into a bowl
Add 1 cup of water and stir to combine
Add food coloring (tip: if you want multiple colors, separate the mixture into different bowls for each color)

When mixed together you should be able to squeeze a handful of oobleck into a ball, when you release the pressure the ball should “melt” back into liquid. Cool! Put a protective covering over the dining room table, set out trays of oobleck and let the kids get their fingers in it. If it dries out, just refresh by adding a little water. It’s messy, but easy to clean up. Just let it dry and vacuum it up!

House Helpers

Kids love to help around the house, so give them simple chores like matching up socks from the clean laundry bin or wiping down the door handles with eco friendly cleaning solution. Try setting out a few plastic cups and bowls at the kitchen sink and let them “wash the dishes” while you meal prep. Plug the sink to preserve water and have a towel handy because this one can turn into a splash and bubbles session!

For the love of Reading

Finally, when you need a hands-off activity but don’t want to feel guilty about screen time, hop on to epic! for thousands of online books including read-to-me for the younger ones and my personal favorite, DIY drawing instructionals for the blossoming artists. epic! has a 30 day free trial but your local library will have access to online books, magazines, and audiobooks for free with apps like OverDrive and Libby.