WFMW- "MOM, I'm BORED" Summer Edition

We are THAT Family hosts WFMW today with the theme of combating boredom now that school's out for the summer. Since my guy is little, school doesn't really apply and I'm usually the one who is BORED, but here's a tip anyway. And it can be modified for all ages- outdoor water fun.

Here's what I did for my 8 month old- I took an old comforter and spread it on our back patio. I didn't want him crawling around on the rough pavers and scraping his little knees. I brought out a BIG mixing bowl full of water and several smaller cups, a sieve and a few cups. Then I let him go to town splashing, dumping, drinking, whatever he wanted. He splashes in the bath of course, but this gave him a little more control over the water since he wasn't immersed in it.

As he gets bigger, here are some of the other things I can see him doing with this idea:

• Using different colored water to learn what makes secondary colors
• Conducting "scientific experiments" about what floats and what sinks
• Filling glasses with different amounts of water and then listening to the different sounds they make.

As I'm typing this to post, I feel like it's a pretty lame idea, but I can remember how much fun I had as a little girl "painting" my grandparent's wood deck with water. The wood changed color when it was wet, so I could spend a good amount of time out there with water and a paint brush! My little guy also enjoyed actually being allowed to dump water everywhere today, so maybe your kids will too.