An Adventure-Filled August

Family Boredom Busters

written by matthew brady

By the time August rolls around, summer monotony has usually set in, especially for kids. But with some creativity, you can get them up and having fun—all while doing things that are productive for the entire household.

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The Ultimate Family Cleaning Competition

You may notice that your house looks a little disheveled with the kids home all summer—even more reason to have them help you tidy up! Granted, chores are usually a bore for kids, so turn the cleaning into an all-out competition. You’ll be surprised how eager everyone is to lend a hand when bragging rights and prizes are involved.

Rules:

  • Keep the competition as fair as possible—be considerate of the kids' ages and the size and messiness of each room when assigning the tasks.
  • Each family member is assigned a room or rooms to clean. He or she will be timed on how long it takes to clean each room. The timer will start when the competitor begins cleaning and ends when he or she finishes and leaves the room.
  • A set of pre-established tasks must be completed in each room for the room to be considered clean.
  • A winner will be selected based on the fastest time and/or who completed all tasks assigned to that room.

Prize Ideas:

  • Extra television or game time one weeknight
  • A favorite meal or treat
  • Movie night (with a film of his or her choosing)
  • Chore suspension (If everyone has weekly chores, winner is exempt for one week.)

Get the competition started! Print out this cleaning checklist, as well as a certificate for the "cleanest family member!"

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DIY Summer Time Capsule

Time capsules are used to store favorite memories and freeze certain moments in time. With the summer rapidly coming to an end, this homemade time capsule lets your kids pick their favorite moments and store them for a future unveiling.

Materials:
  • Scrapbook paper
  • Decorations/markers of your choice
  • Large plastic container of hand wipes, emptied out and washed
  • Scissors
  • Glue
Ideas for what to store inside:
  • Ticket stubs
  • Seashells
  • Pictures from places you visited
  • Souvenirs, such as postcards
  • Hand-drawn artwork
  • Goals for the upcoming school year


  1. Cut the scrapbook paper to wrap around the body of the hand wipe container. Decorate and label the paper, and glue the paper around the container. Make sure to leave the lid uncovered.
  2. Have your kids fill it with their favorite memories.
  3. Store the time capsule in either a closet or drawer, and open at the beginning of next summer.

Kick the same old summer routine to the curb this month with these fun activities. They’ll give your kids one more reason to wish the summer would never end!

Help friends and family defeat summer doldrums by sharing these ideas.

Up Next:

Last-Second Summer Getaways

Posted in August 2019 on Jul 02, 2019