Keeping kids happy is always really hard without spending lots of money. Most times if it cheap it normally is very messy. Painting on paper is one of those that it doesn’t cost much but can be really messy and most times it is easyier outside. When it is raining and cold that can make it really hard to stop the kids getting bored at home.

An idea that I seen was at a friend house and she had four kids under 6 years, all painting together inside and not making to much mess!

Her idea must to buy a really cheap (under $10) shower curtain and place it on the kitchen table so you kids can paint inside.  The normal problem with painting inside is that you don’t want paint everywhere.  Most kids are really happy at the kitchen table and parents can be close and do stuff  i.e clean the kitchen and still watch them. What we found is that the brighter the shower curtain was the more that the kids just wanted to paint on the paper as the white really stood out. We also bought A3 white paper which is a great size. Setting up the clothes horse as a drying rack in the laundry, which the kids were not aloud to go.  We found that if they could see the drying rack they would try to take the new painting to it and drop it on the tiles with paint everywhere or some would go on the walls, so keeping it out of site always helped.

When buying paint please make sure it is water based. If you have old any clothes (like Dad’s old shirts) they make great art mocks. Outside plastics chairs also are great as they can just be hose cleaned. When using paint only put a little bit of each paint out with a cup of water to wash the brushes.

List of things needed for a great painting day inside.

Most things can be bought at Amazon

• Cheap shower curtain
• Water based paint 4-6 colour is heaps
• Paint brushes (normally small brushes would be better)
• Paper
• Food (to keep them at the table having snacks is a great tip)
• Cup for the water to wash the brush
• List of ideas of what the kids can paint

TIP OF THE DAY

If you want to do things different you could buy some plaster molds to paint.  These would normally be around a couple of dollars each.  The best way is to start to paint on paper then when they are starting to get bored, you can give them mounds and they will be interested again.

What to do on School Holidays?  Board games might be a great idea.  When you have young kids it can be really hard to find a good game that everyone can play.

I have started a games review page on this site.  When I was looking to buy a board game for my 3 and 4 year old kids I could find a great site from board games for under 6 year old children.  So I have decided to start one.  All games will be for kids for under 6 years old and I have put a small review with a star rating.

I will be adding more board games as time goes on.  We have also linked pictures on the review to Ebay so you can see the costs of the games new and second hand in your area.  Just need to click on picture to review the listing on ebay.  Hope this helps keeping your kids from being Bored At Home.

I would love to see some comment for any other games that I would need to review or and comment on the games that I have review.

Click here for the Board Game Review

Below is a list of things to do when bored at home with young kids. Activities for kids can be costly so I have come up with three lists. As I source more ideas I will add them as we go.  If you have any ideas to add please comment below so I can add them.  This list is ideas that can stop kids from being bored at home.

Close to Free

• Making a cardboard cabby house
• Making play dough
• Make a race track in the back yard and tell the kids to have a race on their bikes
• Make cake with the kids see cooking with kids
• Set up the tent in the backyard and have a tea party.
• Make a macaroni necklace with macaroni and string
• Go to the park
• Ring a retirement village and see if the kids a yourself can see someone that doesn’t have family coming
• Put some water in a bowl and get the kids to make mud pies

Cheap (under $20)

• Buy a Kite
• Buy balloons, glue and paint.  Make paper mache
• On a hot day buy two water guns and have a water fight
• Go to a indoor playgroup
• Buy fruit and let the kids make smoothies
• Buy some chalk and let the kids draw on the concrete

Value (under $50)

• Go to the movies
• Go to the pinball hall
• Buy a board game
• Let the kids buy a DVD each at the shops
• Buy a new Xbox or WII game

Paper mache is a great craft to play with the kids. It can be a bit messy so clear a good size area or do it outside.

It would be hard to be Bored at Home

What you need

Need to make some glue (see below) or you can buy Paper Macha Glue on Amazon

Balloons or boxes.  You can just buy normal balloons.

Glue brush or any paint brush

One of dads old shirts for an art smock

Some old newspapers and a few sheets on plain paper (we use the plain paper on the list cost so it is easier to paint)

Water based paint.  Any water based paint will do or you can buy some kids Water based paint

Making the Glue

Not Cooked

1 part flour in a bowl

1 part water added slowly and stirred until smooth

Cooked

1 part flour

4 parts water

over heat for 2 – 3 minutes stirring until smooth

Glue to cool before use

Lets Start

Rip newspapers into strips

Blow up balloons and tie

Put glue on balloon and get the kids to start to place paper on the balloon.  It cant get done wrong so let them have fun

when paper is covered the balloon re add more glue and repeat the process

Plain white paper is used for the last couple of layers so it is easier to paint

The more the layers the better but 6 would be a minimum

When finished balloon is to be hung for 24 – 48 hours until dry and hard (best in a place that the kids can’t see i.e shed or garage)

Setup area for kids to paint

After the paint is dry pop the balloon with a pin

Hot Tips

You can add a little bit of cinnamon to the glue for a better smell.

Before starting you can sticky tape and stick to the balloons not it is easier to handle

You can buy eyes and other crafts at a craft shop can make faces

When the kids put the paper on wrong just leave it and when applying the next layer of glue on to push the paper down

There are many recipes to make playdough.  This is the easiest one and you would have everything in the cardboard.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of plain flour
• 1 cup of salt
• 1 tablespoon of oil
• up to a 1 cup of water
• couple drops of food colouring

Method:

Combine salt and flour in a mixing bowl (put the cream of tater in now if you are using)

slowly add 1/2 cup of water, oil while you are mixing together

Roll into balls for each colour & push hole in each one, add two drops of colour

Knead until it has combined, add more colour if needed

Tips & Tricks

Put the play dough in a air tight container when it’s not been used to keep it fresh. If it dry’s out just put a little bit of water and mix in.

If you don’t have the ingredients at home you can buy from Amazon or any toy or craft shop

   

Gluten intolerant shouldn’t miss out!!!!  Gluten Free playdough!!

• 3/4 Cup Cornstarch
• 3/4 Cup Salt
• 3/4 Cup White Rice Flour
• 1 Tbsp Cream of Tartar
• 2 Tsp olive oil
• 1 ½ Cup hot water but not be boiling!
• Food Colouring for the different colour needed

Over the next few months I will be posting some ideas to cook with the young kids.  All Children over the age of 3 years old can do this at home.  All you need is:

A clear bench to prepare on

Booster chairs or something so the kids can help on the bench

Clothes that you don’t mind when the get dirty because they will be making a mess

Time & Patience.  Kids cook very slow & make twice as much mess but they love it.

Kids own utensils.  Can be bought at Amazon

I have two boys, aged 3 & 4.  We have organised that Wednesday after morning tea is when cooking time is.  We started with cake day but have moved to cooking because “if they cook it they will eat it“. It also stops being bored at home. When Mom or myself do the shopping we know that we need to get everything for Wednesday.  Kids have a great day and it is always easy to get them to sleep on tuesday night!

If you have any questions or recipes please leave a comments below or email to boredathomeinfo@gmail.com 

Thank you for your time on bored at home

How quickly did Christmas come and go!  It is always a great time of the year when kids are happy.  We had a great Christmas break and the kids got so many presents from the family.  What do you do when the Christmas season is over, toys have been played with, but the kids are still bored and restless?

The best presents that the kids got was a kitchen baking set, so they now have their own utensils for cooking together.

The best time we had was when we got all the big boxes that didn’t fit into the bin.  We made them into a house .  The kids had so much fun playing with their new cubby house.  All I did was to take some masking tape and made a triangle so they could get under it.  This lasted longer than any new toy that they were given this year.

Hot tip of the day.

Make sure there is no packing foam as it makes so much mess when the kids have a foam fight!

Hope you have safe holiday period.

If you have any ideas please leave comments below so we can share with the network.