Summer Boredom-Busters
How do you remember the long summer holidays as a child? Chances are you have extremely fond memories of days filled with imaginative adventures and life-changing discoveries. One minute you were a world explorer, as you carefully clambered up trees, ran wild across the local park, and swung 
around like a monkey across the monkey bars: next minute you were a pop star, dressed up in whatever you could find, singing into a hairbrush, perhaps even practising a bit of air guitar.
But wasn’t it fun?
This summer, in challenging economic times, this is, perhaps, what our children will need to do more of, as many families have to watch the pennies and plan for a cheap summer holiday at home. What a great summer the children will have if they can have open access to unleash their imaginations. As parents, we can nurture this, by planning day trips and free time at home to allow our children the freedom to discover who they really are and what they really like doing. It’s a real chance to let our children embrace the simple, uncomplicated pleasures of childhood.
Most parents remember a childhood of family picnics on a Sunday complete with sand or grass encrusted cheese and cucumber sandwiches; or trips to the local park balancing precariously on a bike: holding on with one hand and sometimes, especially the brave (or foolhardy!), with no hand at all. And of course not forgetting the blissful hours spent building a fortress of sandcastles or dens in the woods. Long journeys in the car were spent dreaming of future travel and successes, playing I Spy or word, number or memory games. Needless to say, there wasn’t a games console in sight.
Trips to local attractions were a huge treat and oh-so appreciated. The play zones with their swooping swings and contesting scramble nets allowed adventure to come alive. Every exhausting moment was savoured.
By comparison, the facilities at most attractions these days are so much more advanced. They allow even more freedom of expressive play yet with much bigger safety nets to catch the more daring youngster who hasn’t yet located -let alone tested -his or her boundaries.
Remember how, on a weekly basis, the local swimming pool was a must-go venue. Despite the whiff of chlorine, it was ‘the’ social spot to meet up with school chums. With a little imagination, the safe, peaceful waters of the local pool soon became an ocean of pirates or sharks. Now, many local pools or water parks fire up the powers of imagination even more with a maze of gushing, swirling water chutes and giant inflatable’s.
The local fete, carnival, festival, county show or donkey derby was seen as a thoroughly great day out. Priorities of the day were the simple pleasures: trying to get as many paper hats, pens or sticky bug things as possible. It’s great that these traditional summer events still take place so that our children can learn to enjoy them in the same way as we did. So, remember to look out for a host of fun, free family activities in parks and recreation grounds that many local authorities run over the summer months.
Just as it did when we were younger, it goes without saying that there’s bound to be the odd wet rainy day during the six weeks of the summer holidays – but let’s hope these are few and far between, especially after the dismal weather we’ve had over the last two years. Unless you’re visiting an all-weather attraction (of which there are many) the boredom pangs can really kick in on wet weather days. However this can provide a great chance to do something with the children at home such as baking or cooking a basic meal, or conjuring up a tasty treat. Or why not buy a simple plain canvas for your child so he or she can let the creative talents loose and paint a masterpiece that can be placed on the bedroom wall.
Alternatively, create your own home cinema, complete with a newly released DVD, popcorn and some friends. Or perhaps you could use the time to build up a ‘family album’ together by getting out old photos, school reports, awards and so on. This will be cherished in years to come. If the children are incessantly begging to go on the internet, steer them to one of many child friendly sites with an educational slant such as 24 hour museum - http://www.show.me.uk; the BBC’s website is always worth a visit – www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc or www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies and of course let’s not forget our very own Primary Times website – www.primarytimes.net - which is heaped with a plethora of boredom-busting ideas, children’s games and events taking place local to you.
Finally – and this is important - just allow the children to chill out and get bored. And don’t feel the slightest tinge of guilt about it. It is a fact of life, that even as adults, boredom is something we have to work through. Let’s face it – life isn’t always exciting; children need to learn that. By giving their imaginations a chance, they’ll come up with ideas to fill in those long hours.
Perhaps, by trawling through our memory banks, we can remember what fun times we had as children at comparatively little expense. Maybe then we will be able to feel less troubled about not spending a fortune on the children this summer.
Remember to pay a visit to a local museum - Most have been transformed into highly absorbing, educational institutions full of hands-on, interactive displays and regular workshops that captivate children. They learn without realising it!
Kirsty Woodgate
