Around the House Boredom Busters

Have you ever had one of those days when you’re stuck around the house all day for one reason or another? Maybe the car’s being repaired, someone isn’t feeling 100 percent, or you’ve decided to enjoy a pajama day. Somehow these lovely, tranquil days can begin to take on a different form in my house, usually around mid- to late-afternoon. Boredom sets in. Well, don’t get cranky, get creative because even if you don’t have traditional craft items handy, you can probably scare up enough materials to whip up some fun.

The Home Office: Festive Garland or Banner (pictured above)
If you have paper and string, twine, or ribbon, you can make garlands to celebrate anything. Similar to making hearts, fold paper in half and cut a shape making sure to include the fold. When you open the paper, you will have a symmetrical shape. Decorate one or both halves of your shape, hang over the string and close, and then insert a dab of glue to keep shut. Repeat this process as long as you want and you have yourself a banner.

Bathroom Cabinet/Linen Closet: Cotton Ball Snowstorm (pictured below)
Besides their many health and beauty uses, cotton balls can stand in for miniature snowballs. Put a giant handful of cotton balls in the middle of a small blanket or beach towel, have everybody grab an end, and tug! This action will cause the cotton balls to fly up into the air. Many toddlers find this “snow storm” quite amusing; bigger kids might have more fun with a mock snowball fight.

The Kitchen: Colored Necklaces (pictured above)
Do you have any pasta with holes in it? Put a good amount into a resealable bag (or bowl with a lid), add a drop of food coloring, and shake. Shake until your pasta has changed color. When the pasta is your desired shade, place it flat on a cookie sheet to dry. Repeat with different colors to make several batches of dyed pasta. (You could probably use a blow dryer to speed up the drying process.) Once the noodles are dry, you have colored beads for either stringing into necklaces or gluing onto paper. Colors are often dark and muted so you can try to sell this idea to boys as “let’s make necklaces like surfers wear!”

Elyse Major lives in northern Rhode Island with her husband and two sons (ages six and eight). A “mostly” stay-at-home mom, Elyse works as a communications consultant for Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island. Her hobbies include doing crafts with her boys, eating popcorn with her husband, writing, creating home décor, and most recently, blogging (visit Elyse’s blog at http://tinkeredtreasures.blogspot.com/).