Hey Nikki,I know there are much bigger problems in the world right now, but my school is out and I am SO BORED. When I first heard school was getting cancelled in the middle of the year, I thought it was AWESOME NEWS and the BEST day of my life! But this is NO summer vacation! First of all, we still have to do work, but all by ourselves on the computer! It’s boring, AND I’m done with that work in like an hour! NOT that I want more work, but…I’m not even allowed to go hang out with my friends! My sisters are driving me up the wall, and both my parents are ALWAYS stressed out and in a bad mood. We’re going to drive each other crazy if we’re cooped up any longer! Help!!!
Bored, Bothered, And Bugging Out
Hi Bored, Bothered, And Bugging Out,
These are some weird times we’re going through, right? FYI, if anyone reads this column way after the post date, this question came in during the Coronavirus pandemic when schools all over the world shut down for weeks—maybe months? We don’t even know how long it’ll be as I’m writing this! But if everything’s fine when you see this post, these ideas will all work for summer boredom too! 😀
I know some people who homeschool and LOVE it, but I think there’s a BIG difference between choosing to homeschool and suddenly being forced into it! Plus, the homeschoolers I know actually go out all the time, to museums, Tae kwon do, dance classes, and stuff like that. They actually HAVE A LIFE outside the house to balance out all of that home schooling. So, even they are probably going stir crazy right about now! 🙁!!
But this is just the way things are until the whole pandemic thingy goes away. Until then, your parents are trying to keep you safe and you have to find ways to make the best of it.
Okay, so I’m just going to mention a BUNCH of ideas that might help. Some of them might stink. But hey, you’ve gotta kiss some frogs before you find your prince! Or something like that…
Anyway, here they are:
- MOVIE MARATHON!! Binge watch all of your fav movies on Netflix, Disney Plus, TV or YouTube! Now that movie theaters are closed, some of the newest ones should be available to view from home a lot sooner!
- Make your own movies! You can do amazing things with a cell phone, free software and apps. If you don’t have your own phone, borrow your parent’s, since they’re probably stuck at home too!
- Binge read all of your fav books and graphic novels (as recommended by my bookworm BFF, Chloe).
- Make your own book or graphic novel! Camp NaNoWriMo is a cool free program that encourages people to set big writing goals in the month of April. Here’s a link to their Young Writer’s Program: camp-nanowrimo
- Learn to bake bread or make a meal. Or forget fancy new recipes and just make some yummy cookies or cupcakes!
- Learn something new, like a language, a song on your fav instrument, or a hobby. Seriously, you can probably find instructions on YouTube for just about anything you want to learn.
- Listen to podcasts (that’s something super smart and brainy my BFF Zoey suggested)! There are some really fun ones for kids. Some of my favorites are Wow in the World, Story Pirates, and Pants on Fire.
- Organize a virtual hang-out with your friends. Don’t just text. Actually see each other’s faces! Don’t complain about being bored. Play silly games like two truths and lie.
- Build a pillow fort or treehouse (this idea came from my little sister, Brianna. Who knew that girl was actually good for something?!).
- Just be bored. Letting your mind wander is actually kind of great sometimes!
- Call your grandma, or someone else you know who might be lonely.
- COLOR YOUR HEART OUT!! I used to feel SO ASHAMED of secretly wanting to SWIPE every last one of Brianna’s Princess Sugar Plum coloring books and color in them myself because it looks SOOOO relaxing. But, then I discovered that grown-ups do it ALL THE TIME in adult coloring books, which means you’re NEVER too old for coloring! So, I’ve included some of my artwork below for you to download, print, and GET YOUR COLORING ON! Make sure to stay within the lines. Or not!
Those are my ideas for now, but I bet everyone else will have more ideas. Share them in the comments! What have you always wanted to learn? Or make? How are you spending a ton of extra free time?
Click on the image to download a printable pdf.
