Boredom Busters

Some days are just lazy. You don't want to leave the house or get out of your pajama's, or in my littlest' case he doesn't want to put clothes on at all. But, as much as all of us mom's would love a lazy day, even the laziest of days we are still expected to help our children figure out what to do. Right when you start getting your lazy on, you will inevitably hear those cringe worthy words from your children....."MOM! I'm Bored!!!".

Ugh. You just want to pull your hair out and hide in the bathroom, but- you have to pull up your mama pants and figure it out. I have several super easy, super cheap Boredom Busters that I like to rotate. This is one of my absolute favorites though. What kid doesn't love to draw? Well- with 5 children- there are kids out there that do not enjoy drawing. So- if you have one of those, like I do, sometimes you have to make it fun for them and help them along.

For instance, my little- he's not really interested in coloring or drawing or really any crafty thing unless its super easy, super fast, and super messy.

My  first Boredom Buster is simple. A roll of Butcher paper. No, we are not becoming butchers- we are going to let our imagination run wild with crayons, paint, and markers. Butcher paper is fun because its a little thicker than regular paper, its on a huge roll that you can just roll out, and it rolls right back up super easy.

Honestly,  this is the cheapest and easiest fun that can last for hours. To make it fun for the ones that don't like drawing- we make it a story or a challenge. So- you can read a story and ask them to draw a picture of the main character or something they found interesting in the book, or you can have them make up their own story and draw it. You can challenge them without them even knowing its a challenge, "I bet you can't draw a bird", sometimes this reverse psychology works, sometimes its already been overused and they can see straight through you. As you can see in the picture below, they were all giggles and really enjoyed making their own creations.

A roll of butcher paper can set you back anywhere from about $13-$30, but is totally worth it and will last a very long time (if you don't use it everyday). For crayons, markers and paints, I always hit up the back to school sales and get them for about a quarter each and keep them stashed away for lazy days. As you can see in the pictures, it is very important to draw lines to separate each child's space and make sure you put their names on their spaces as well. This helps keep the peace with multiple children. Below you will see the finished masterpieces. Hopefully this will help you to keep your children's imaginations rolling while you still get to enjoy a lazy day.