It isn’t always easy to keep your children entertained, especially as the weather starts to cool down and the option of heading outside to play and soak up the sunshine is no longer feasible. So, what can you do to stop them from saying “I’m Bored” this autumn?
Here are some of our top tips to making sure that your children are occupied during the colder and darker months.
Give them some gardening projects
Just because it is autumn, that doesn’t mean that your garden must lie barren and uncared for. In fact, there are still plenty of gardening projects to do that your children can help with. There is going to be cleaning up, trimming down some of the plants that have grown over the summer and of course tidying up some of the weeds that grew, along with putting things away and general cleaning and maintenance. Autumn is a good time to plant too, especially roses and Spring Flowering bulbs like Tulips and Daffodils. Why not get the kids involved, after all what child doesn’t like a bit of mud!
Encourage them to do some jobs around the house
Chores are not something that children like to do, we know this, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t find a way to encourage them to get to work on the things that need doing around the house. Make a chore chart and make sure that they understand which chores are there; you can make the process into a game or competition with a tempting reward for their efforts. This doesn’t need to be expensive and could be as simple as allowing them control of the TV for the evening. For the older children why not get them to help with some of the DIY tasks and teach them some life skills too.
Get the arts and crafts out
Arts and crafts are always a good go to when you are stuck in the house and the weather isn’t being particularly kind. It is a good idea to keep some crafty materials around the house and not be frightened to get them out and get messy from time to time. It is coming up to that time of year, why not address two birds with one stone? There are some great Christmas Craft ideas on Happiness is Homemade.
Cook with them
Children love to bake, any excuse to make a little mess and bake some tasy treats and they are there! Autumn is the ideal time to get your children in the kitchen with you, not only are there lots of yummy recipes that you can try, but they are also less likely to get bored halfway through and want to run outside to play.
Have a picnic inside
When you and your children have taken the time to put together some tasty treats, then why not turn this into another activity? Picnics are great fun and kids love the freedom of being able to eat al-fresco, so, if it is rainy and windy outside, then why not arrange for a picnic for indoors for them to enjoy?
Write a story together
Creativity and imagination is something that children love. So, why not take the opportunity to write a story together? You don’t have to be any good at writing, you just need to sit down together and come up with some ideas. You could write a few sentences each and draw some wacky pictures!
Autumn is the perfect excuse to spend some quality time with your children, so rather than worrying about the weather, think about different ways to keep them entertained and before you know it spring and summer will be here once again.
