5 Things To Do Indoors With Kids During The Summer

By | June 15, 2012
5 Things To Do Indoors With Kids During The Summer

I kinda hate summer. Not gonna lie. I’ve never really been a fan of heat, shorts, or public pools. Even as a little kid I always preferred the structure of fall and winter to the supposed freedom of summer. What a strange child I was.

I’m still strange, and the reasons for disliking this miserable season have multiplied. Times two hundred. For one, crop tops are awful and two, kids are so annoying in the summer!

They just wanna DO stuff. All day long. And they’re all grouchy cause it’s hot and sticky outside, but they don’t have the sense to understand that they should stay inside and SIT. Or better yet, sleep. The nerve of these kids.

So every day we have this tug-of-war battle with the great outdoors. I go round and round trying to convince them that yah, your feet are burning because its a eleventy million degrees out here and no, it’s not very fun to singe the peach fuzz off your sweet little behind going down this fiery thing we once knew as a slide.

If only I could get them to stay inside where it’s air-conditioned and read books all day. Or color. Or, gasp! play house or something. But my kids aren’t like that. No, they’re what you would call “high maintenance.” They need to be active. All the time. So instead of playing with their nice little Melissa and Doug kitchen like ordinary children they’re jumping from coffee-table to couch to chair and banging their extremities along the way.

Waaaah! I hurt my knee! Waaaah! Chaucer bonked my head! Waaaaah! Coco push me!

Well duh, you fools. This is my living room not your freaking gymnasium. Sheesh.

The weather forecast confirms my belief that summer is of the devil and it doesn’t look like it’ll be letting up for, oh, I don’t know…months! I guess I need to come up with some activities, preferably constructive ones, that keep them from ruining my couch hurting themselves.

Of course I turned to Pinterest for inspiration. And of course, I found that–plus Mason jars full of guilt. According to Pinterest, there is an overwhelming progression of ambitious, make everyone else look terrible, overachieving mommies out there. Yep, these ladies are bumping it up a notch or ten by creating all these activities and crafts and science experiments that contrive to make the rest of us look bad.

Ok, maybe I’m just borrowing an unnecessary guilt trip. Pinterest makes me feel this way about everything from how I use my baking soda to how I bake my cupcakes. Sigh. But that’s off topic. I don’t want to knock anyone that’s trying their darndest to be the best possible mom she can be. Cause I know you’re out there, and you’re enthusiastic, and you’re just the best. I mean that 100% true blue, no sarcasm here. I’m just not really that mom, so allow me this little soapbox for the sake of my blog post, mkay?

This is for all the lazy, tired underachievers. I’ve created a list of activities that will keep your children entertained indoors. And better yet, they’ll entertain you!

5 Things To Do Indoors With Kids During The Summer
1.) Play doctor. You can be the patient and they’ll get to “gently” listen to your heartbeat, check your ears, and perform surgery (my kids like surgery). The best part about this is–you get to put your feet up for a few minutes. Try to extend the “appointment” as long as you can – you may need to explain amputation so that they’ll stay interested. It really is relaxing though, until they pull out a saw. 
2.) Play beauty salon. Sure, you’ll have to wash your face and pull strange things out of your hair afterwards but – again, you’ll get to put your feet up for a few minutes! They can comb your hair, do your “makeup,” and give you a foot massage. My daughter insists on slathering my feet in lotion (which is nice) and then wiping it off with tiny pieces of toilet paper (which is weird). I don’t really care because it feels good and keeps her out of trouble for a few minutes.
3.) Lay down on the floor. Now let them build a fort around you–out of pillows. Yay! You’ve got about three minutes before they start body slamming you with the pillows. Think of it as a catnap. 
4.) Play art gallery. They have to draw a million pictures and you’ll promise to tape them up everywhere. See, my kids will color as long as they feel appreciated. Judge their drawings and give them a prize–chocolate chips? Take down the art when they’re sleeping and tell them you sold it to the highest bidder.
5.) Let the grandmas do the work…via Skype! Set the laptop somewhere unreachable but still in sight and have the grandmas read them stories, sing them songs, and ooh and ahh over their amazing tricks that you’ve seen five thousand times and counting. That’s right, you can put your feet up and let someone else entertain your kids for a bit. Brilliant. Let Grams referee the fight that breaks out and have her figure out constructive ways for the kids to be indoors. 
There’s also the option of letting them zone out to Disney Junior or your iPhone. I do that, too. Don’t tell Pinterest
What do you do to keep your kids happy indoors?

9 thoughts on “5 Things To Do Indoors With Kids During The Summer

  1. adrienne

    Haha! This is funny! Would you believe me if I told you I bribed my eight year last week. A foot massage for a Skylander. It was heavenly and totally worth it! He said, “Mom, do NOT blog about this!” Does leaving this comment count? LOL!

    Reply
    1. hillary

      I love that your kids tell you not to blog about it! I’d say give it another year or so and he’ll be fine with it!

      Reply
  2. hilljean

    Get out paper and a clipboard so they can add scheduling to their playing Doctor. The boys added that twist. Also, you could use play money to pay for things and if you get really creative teach them counting money or counting back change.
    Pills can be anything from chocolate or colored sprinkles to chocolate chips, M&Ms, red hots or any small candies. Remember Uncle Ed and his Keebler cookies for headaches that he always tried to talk you kids into giving him.

    Reply
  3. Katy @ Experienced Bad Mom

    Perfect timing! I’m heading into Spring Break and those pesky kids want to do stuff.

    Reply
  4. Recycle Old Blog Posts

    […] My Life is Fascinating: 5 Things to do Indoors with Kids. I got such a kick out of Hilary’s post for “all the lazy, tired underachievers” […]

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  5. Pamela

    Oh what a good laugh I had. I let my kids play library. They played for hours. It was their favorite place in the world so they loved playing it, too. All I had to do is straighten the book shelves when they were done. HA…who am I kidding. I had THEM straighten them!

    Reply
  6. hilljean

    Haha! I liked your last suggestion and see this as a big hint! I have a better idea – bring them to Nama’s house for about a week and you can relax. Missing those highly overactive grandkids alot:(

    Reply
  7. hilljean

    These are great ideas, Aunt Gloria! You guys always did such cool stuff with as when we were kids. I never was aware of Bakersfield or Texas heat when we were with you. I like this idea of M &Ms ????

    Reply

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