They are 3 and 5 yrs old. How can they be bored? It's a beautiful day outside, we were out enjoying the weather. They swang (is that a word?) on the swings, did an obstacle course in the backyard like, twice, and are now bored and wanted to come inside and watch t.v. So i told them that we can go inside if they are too hot, but they have to play, no t.v. I can't believe that they don't know what to do with themselves, especially my 5 yr old. What do your kids do outside in their yard to have fun?

By Colette on Wednesday, June 23, 2004 - 04:02 pm:

Mine ride bikes, look for salamanders, play kickball, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, lemonade stand (we live on the road the soccer field is on and they make a killing during soccer season), they've been playing Marco Polo, freeze tag, hide and go seek, playing in the sprinklers, etc. just regular summertime stuff.

By Texannie on Wednesday, June 23, 2004 - 05:16 pm:

I always tell mine if they are bored they can take a nap or clean up, it's amazing how fast they find something to do! LOL

By Mommyathome on Wednesday, June 23, 2004 - 05:19 pm:

My kids love to look for potato bugs and worms. Also, they have planted some seeds, and they spent a LOT of time watering them and waiting for them to grow.

They also think it's really neat when they get to take books outside to read. We usually do this when the shade hits the front yard. They sit on the porch swing with a blanket and read books!

BTW...my kids are 2, 4, and 6 (barely!)

By Lauram on Wednesday, June 23, 2004 - 06:00 pm:

I WISH my kids would entertain themselves. Mine are 2 and 7. THe 2 year old plays by himslef, but the 7 year old doesn't. It is REALLY tough. He has lots of issues including ADHD, and has never really played- EVER- especially using imaginiative play. It's amazing to see the 2 year old doing it- because we never experienced it with the older one. He was lining up his trains yesterday and saying "Choo! Choo!" WOW! When my 7 y o is outside, he usually rides his bike or takes a bat and swats at things. We do LOTS of field trips (beach, park, graocery store, library, pool, local zoo, etc...) to pass the time because otherwise it would get UGLY! BTW- they both do REALLY well in public places!

By Feona on Thursday, June 24, 2004 - 06:42 am:

How about a little toddler pool (with or without a slide going in it.) Play with the hose. Some little sand buckets. two paint brushes for pretend painting.

By Colette on Thursday, June 24, 2004 - 07:47 am:

How about bathtub paint? Let them paint each other and then run around under the hose?

By Children03 on Thursday, June 24, 2004 - 07:47 am:

My girls like to play in their playhouse, swing & play on the swingset, play in the sandbox, ride bikes, play in the sprinkler or kiddie pool, draw w/sidewalk chalk, water my flowers for me, play hide n seek and scavenger hunts - give them a list of items that you want them to find and a small paper bag and let them find as many as they can. It is fun. Those are a few of my ideas, my girls get bored sometimes too and beg me to have their friends over and my girls are 3 & 4.

By Bellajoe on Thursday, June 24, 2004 - 07:51 am:

Well, they do run through the sprinkler when it is warm enough...lately we have a pretty cool breeze coming through and my ds is already coughing and sneezing so i'm not going to let him run through the cold sprinkler till it is warmer.
My ds likes to ride his bike, my dd is not really into doing that. We have gone through 3 blow up baby pools, we have them for a summer and the next time i go to blow it up, it has a small hole
I'm tired of wasting my money on them. They do play hide and seek...we only have like 3 hiding spots in our yard though...,

I like to take them to the park, my problem is my ds. He has a fit when it is time to leave. I even give him a fair warning to let him know that we are leaving soon. So we always end up leaving the park angry...especially me. That doesn't make me want to do it again.

I will have to get their little bug catchers out and let them hunt for bugs, that may entertain them for a while.

Robin, i like the reading the books on the porch idea. They might like that!
Thanks for all the advice, if you have more keep them coming!

By Jodes on Thursday, June 24, 2004 - 09:14 am:

Well, you can do what we did that is so far keeping my kids very busy....buy a puppy!! LOL! It was a spur of the moment decision we made on Sunday, and we went out and bought an 8 week old black lab. We also have a 7 yr old golden retriever, and my boys, who are 6 and 9, haven't said one word about being bored! They have been so busy with the puppy and really good about taking care of her so far. Anyways, I know most likely you won't want to get a puppy...so....everyone else had great suggestions, my boys too love going grass hopper and bug hunting outside, they also like to play with walkie talkies outside, we are lucky too because my mom has a pool, so we go over there and swim a lot. Also, do your kids have any playmates that you can invite over? They might be a little young still. Trips to the library are another thing we do in the summer. Hang in there!

By Bellajoe on Thursday, June 24, 2004 - 10:10 am:

LOL, no thanks on the puppy idea. I love dogs, my dh doesn't really like them and is allergic to them. I'm lucky my kids have not asked for one yet.

They actually have a friend over today, she lives down the street and her mom is having a garage sale, so i offered to watch her. It's sad though, they are moving in a few weeks and this little girl and my dd are best friends.

By Conni on Friday, June 25, 2004 - 09:37 am:

I put a huge bottle of bubbles by the backdoor. Ds (4) can take them out and play with them whenever he wants. I also sat the sidewalk chalk there too. I put his art easel on the deck. He has a Little Tikes Drawer that is sitting by the backdoor. On his way out he can pull open the drawer and get out art paper, finger paints, markers, chalk (the easel has a chalkboard on it too), crayons. He likes to go out and fingerpaint on the deck. He knows to leave his picture hanging on the easel until it dries and he will walk around to the water hose and wash his hands off.

Speaking of the water hose- we have 2 lab's in the backyard and they love for ds to spray them down with the hose. So this keeps him busy somedays.

He enjoys spraying ice cubes with a spray bottle and watching the ice melt. I usually put some color in the water.


I have had him spray the deck off for me, spray the patio off for me and pull weeds this summer. He will go around to each flower pot and help me pull off dead blooms and water the flowers with his watering can. He loves to wear his gardening gloves and use his watering can.

He spends alot of time sneaking around the house with a flashlight trying to sneak up on our kitty. The poor kitty! ;)

Of course my favorite idea is Texannie's. I have done this with my older boys so many times that they dont ever say they are bored. lol

We cook together alot in the summer especailly--because we are all together 3 meals a day. When we picked blueberries (which my 4 yo really enjoyed going to the blueberry farm btw!), we came home and made homemade blueberry muffins. They really enjoyed this.

We *go* alot during the summer too. We go to many places already mentioned in previous posts.

Thats all I can think--looks like everyone else already gave you some great ideas above.