The challenge for this week's WFMW is to find ways to keep your kids busy when the dreaded "I'm bored" whine starts. Well, at our house my kids know those words are the equivalent of saying "Mom, please find me some chore to keep me busy and out of your hair for the next twenty minutes." Now, no kid in their right mind is going to ask for this more than a few times so I don't hear the whine of boredom, but I do see it in their faces. Summers are supposed to be lazy and carefree - but I've yet to have one of those. We have a steady stream of neighborhood kids (and those who aren't quite as local, but then I become Taxi Mom as well) in and out through the summer. DD10 also has good friend she likes to spend time with in the summer that doesn't live too far away, but during the school year their schedules just don't line up. We do the summer reading program at the library (whoo hoo for Mrs. Connie, she's the best!), visit lots of local museums and zoos and we have our weekly Girl Scout meetings and several trips and events. You would think with all that our summer is pretty full, but no, my friend, it's not full enough to keep my kids busy. But, we're not done yet. We're also homeschooling this summer. We're taking off this week and then next week we'll be back to the books. We're covering math, science, social studies and spelling. I'm counting the summer reading program as our literature through the months of June and July so we're not doing any of that and I'm giving them a grammar break after their research reports (just 'cause I'm nice like that once in while).Some of our planned outings for this summer are
- the Joplin museum complex (free on Mondays)
- George Washington Carver birthplace (free)
- safari sanctuary & blue bell factory tour (with our church)
- precious moments park (free)
- Independence zoo and water park (with Girl Scouts)
- Prairie Days Festival (with Girl Scouts, but counting as history field trip)
- Troop camping
- Family camping
- Tulsa zoo
Granted, we won't be on the road or educating every minute of the day. For those times when the kids really need something to do we set up a fort (with the new house they can make a mondo-fort upstairs), pull out the art supplies or spend the day at the pool. Free (or very inexpensive) fun to be had with little-to-no prep time for mom.
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