5 Fun Activities for Busy Kids

I’m thrilled to welcome Stephanie from Boy Mama Teacher Mama to the blog today. 

As the mom of two boys, I am ALWAYS looking for new and interesting ways to channel their energy into positive play. Here are 5 of my finds for my boys.

1. Water Bottle Fountains

Grab a few plastic bottles, some sticky tack, a straw and a pair of scissors and head to the tub or into the backyard for some serious water fun. I found this idea for Water Bottle Fountains on Learn with Play at Home. The minute I saw this activity, I knew it would be a hit with my boys and it was! A HUGE hit. My youngest was so happy filling and refilling the bottles and watching the water come out while my eldest spent his time experimenting with different ways of effecting the flow of the water. If you want to see how we adapted it on our home, click here.

2. Hammer and Nails

Many parents cringe at the thought of giving their children a real hammer and real nails. But, if you are up for it, your boys are up for it too. Take a block of wood and hammer a few nails into the block so they are in about 1/4 of inch. Put some safety goggles or sunglasses on your child and let them hammer away. Good supervision is a must to keep little ones safe! If you are not comfortable with real tools try these ideas instead:

• play hammer, golf tees in styrofoam, a cardboard box, an egg carton or even a pumpkin
• play hammer, blunt headed nails and any of the above items
• real hammer, wooden stakes in the ground

3. Bubble Wrap Jump

I was first introduced to this idea by a dear friend. I went to pick my son up from a play date and when I arrived, found the living room floor covered in large squares of bubble wrap. The boys were happily jumping up and down on the bubble wrap and leaping back and forth between squares. My boys were at each other this evening, so I took out the bubble wrap, we jumped for about 5 minutes and things were back to normal. Phew!

4. Paper Rockets

My boys have been really interested in rockets lately so I have been looking for fun, rocket activities that we can take outside. When I came across this idea from Picklebums, I knew I had found something good. Paper rockets made from paper and straws– genius! Visit Printable Paper Rockets and follow the directions for making the rockets then head outdoors to have some fun with your very own paper rockets. If you want some additional ideas for ways to use your paper rockets click here.

5. Homemade Marble Run

My boys love the marble runs we see in toy stores. I, however, don’t love the price tag. So, I decided we would make our own marble run, well, my boys would make their own marble run. We gathered all the toilet paper tubes we have been saving, our container of marbles and some masking tape and set to work. It was a great exercise in trial and error and thinking and rethinking for my eldest and, for my youngest, it was just plain fun rolling the marbles through the tubes over and over. Click this link for some more thoughts about making a homemade marble run.

About Stephanie

Stephanie “retired” from her career as an elementary school teacher of 14 years to stay home and raise her boys. She originally hails from the Chicago area and now has a permanent residence in Tacoma, WA, but is currently living in Sydney, Australia with her family. Her site, Boy Mama Teacher Mama is an amazing resource for parents, teachers, and other caregivers of children; featuring a wide variety of activities that can be done at home or in the classroom, with a special emphasis on raising boys (also on Facebook, Twitter, and Google +)! In her free time, Stephanie enjoys playing with her boys and her dogs, writing, reading, baking and quilting.