Boredom Busters for Kids: Easy Summer Activity Ideas
Boredom busters for kids when everyone’s run out of ideas
“I’m bored.”
Sometimes it means “I don’t know what to do.”
Sometimes it means “I want you to play with me.”
Sometimes it means “I’ve forgotten every toy, book and game I own.”
These boredom busters for kids are for those summer holiday moments when you need a quick idea that does not involve buying anything new, getting every craft supply out or providing six hours of enthusiastic entertainment.
In this guide:
- Download our free Summer Activity Pack
- Make a boredom lucky dip
- Build a tiny world
- Burn off the boredom
- Use their current obsession
- Bring back a game you forgot about
- Get more boredom-busters with Busy Things
1. Download the free Summer Activity Pack
Want something ready to print?
Our free Summer Activity Pack includes printable activities, challenges and prompts for children to use during the holidays.
It is handy to have nearby for quiet afternoons, rainy mornings or those moments when nobody can think what to do next.
Download the free Summer Activity Pack
2. Make a boredom lucky dip
This takes five minutes to make, but can save you again and again.
Write a few quick activity ideas on scraps of paper and put them in a bowl, jar or envelope. When someone says “I’m bored”, they choose one at random.
The ideas do not need to be impressive. They just need to be easy to start.
Here are 10 to get you going:
- Build something taller than a teddy.
- Draw the strangest sandwich you can imagine.
- Make a tiny house for one toy.
- Invent a new animal.
- Find five things that are blue.
- Create an obstacle course using cushions.
- Make a card for someone.
- Design a new ice cream flavour.
- Choose one object and turn it into something else.
- Make up a new rule for a game you already own.
The trick is not to make every idea amazing. The trick is to remove the decision-making bit.
Sometimes children just need a starting point.
Try it on Busy Things: Busy Things has lots of ready-made creative prompts too, from designing a monster or making a poster to creating recipes, cards, pictures and stories. It is a useful place to look when everyone’s run out of ideas and you want something they can start quickly.
3. Build a tiny world
A small challenge could spark their imagination and lead to hours (hopefully) of fun!
Choose one small toy, figure, pebble, shell, coin or random object and challenge your child to build a tiny world for it.
For example: Can you make a café for a gnome?
They could start with the café itself:
- make a counter from a box, book or cushion
- add tables and chairs for tiny customers
- make food from paper, blocks, toy food or anything nearby
- give the café a name
- make a sign for the door
If they are still going, add another layer:
- a menu and price list
- today’s special
- make some real food to serve
- a special event, with posters and decorations
- a takeaway service
- a grand opening event
- a tiny birthday party
- a mocktail of the day
Other tiny world challenges could be:
- a house for a LEGO figure
- a garden for a toy animal
- a campsite for a teddy
- a shop for a dragon trainer
- a theme park for a coin
- a secret base for a spoon
Try it on Busy Things: Children could use Busy Publisher to make something for their tiny world, such as a sign, map, menu, poster, price list or advert.
4. Burn off the boredom
Sometimes “I’m bored” actually means “I need to move”, so give them a quick challenge that gets the wiggles out.
Try:
- 10 star jumps
- 9 hops on one foot
- 8 squats
- 7 burpees
- 6 giant steps
- 5 spins
- 4 funny walks
- 3 jumps as high as you can
- 2 balance poses
- 1 big stretch
Or try one of these:
Obstacle course: Set up a quick obstacle course using whatever is already around.
Animal races: Choose an animal and move across the room like it: frog jumps, bear crawls, penguin waddles, crab walks, cheetah sprints or whatever else they can come up with.
Song challenge: Put on one song and give them a challenge before it ends. They could copy each other’s dance moves, freeze every time the music stops or even sneak in a little “tidy up 10 things” challenge.
Sock target practice: Roll up a few pairs of socks and aim them at a washing basket, cushion or empty box. Move the target further away each round.
Keep it short and silly. The aim is not fitness, just changing the energy in the room before everyone melts into the sofa or starts annoying each other for sport.
For more ways to help children move, the NHS Healthier Families site has lots of activity ideas for children.
Try it on Busy Things: Workout with Dog and Cat is a fun movement activity children can follow along with.
5. Use their current obsession
Sometimes the easiest way to beat boredom is to use whatever your child is already talking about anyway.
Football? Dragons? Space? Barbie? K-Pop? Dinosaurs? Animals? Minecraft? Cats?
Use it!
Try turning their current obsession into a quick activity:
- Design a new football kit.
- Make up a K-Pop dance routine.
- Create a quiz to test the rest of the family.
- Build a dragon cave, football stadium, space base or dream house.
- Make a poster for a pop group, film, game or imaginary event.
- Invent a new character to join their favourite story.
- Create a menu for an alien café, dinosaur restaurant or Barbie party.
- Make a Top 10 list of favourite players, songs, animals or characters.
- Build a scene using toys, blocks or craft bits.
- Write a chant, song, slogan or catchphrase.
Once you have a theme, it is much easier to get started.
Need a starting point? Try one of these:
- K-Pop Demon Hunters activities
- Barbie-themed activities for children
- How to Train Your Dragon activity ideas
- Football themed activities and free activity pack
- Space activities for children and free activity pack
Try it on Busy Things: Busy Things has lots of themed activities too, from dragons, space and football to animals, pirates, climate change and much more. If your child is already interested in a topic, it can be a good place to find something they actually want to do.
6. Bring back a game you forgot about
Sometimes the best boredom-busters are the ones you already know, but completely forgot existed!
Try one of these old favourites:
- The floor is lava
- Hot and cold
- Simon Says
- I Spy
- Charades
- Hide something and give clues
- Keepy-uppy with a balloon
- Paper aeroplane races
- Sock basketball
- What’s missing? Put 10 objects on a tray, let children look for 30 seconds, then secretly remove one.
- Consequences
- Noughts and crosses
- Hangman
- Pictionary
- Categories: choose a category, then take turns naming things that fit, such as animals, foods, countries, footballers or things you’d find at the beach.
- Rock, paper, scissors tournament
- Balloon volleyball
- Indoor bowling with plastic bottles
- Musical statues
- Musical bumps
- Guess the animal
- 20 questions
- Would you rather?
Need a few “Would you rather?” ideas?
- Would you rather have a bedroom made of sweets or a garden full of trampolines?
- Would you rather have spaghetti hair or jelly shoes?
- Would you rather live in a treehouse or on a boat?
- Would you rather have a pet dragon or a pet penguin?
- Would you rather only be able to hop or only be able to walk backwards?
- Would you rather eat ice cream for breakfast or pizza for pudding?
- Would you rather be able to talk to animals or breathe underwater?
Get more boredom-busters with Busy Things
Busy Things is full of playful activities for children aged 3-11, from creative projects and puzzles to drawing, music, quizzes, themed activities and games.
For a limited time, families can get 2 months of Busy Things for the price of 1, giving you more boredom-busters ready for rainy afternoons, quiet mornings and those “what shall we do now?” moments.
Busy Things works best on a tablet, laptop or desktop computer.
More boredom-busters for kids
You might also like:
- Make a Summer Bucket List
- 10 Stress-Busting Activities For Kids That Actually Work
- 100 Fun Drawing Prompts for Children
- 7 Easy Space Activities for Children to Try at Home
More Busy Summer guides
This post is part of Busy Summer, our collection of simple activity guides for real summer holiday moments.
Try another summer holiday moment guide:
- “Are we nearly there?”
Travel activities for long journeys, waiting around and holiday downtime. - “What can I make?”
Making, drawing and craft ideas using things you already have. - “The weather’s had other ideas”
Rainy day or heatwave ideas for when outdoor plans are off. - “Can you just play nicely for five minutes?”
Ideas to help children play together with a bit less refereeing. - “I just need ten minutes”
Independent activities for when you need a short breather.