Summer Vacation... the Honeymoon Period Is OVER.

Well Good Lord Girl! Let 'em watch a little TV or a DVD or something. Not ALL day, but just to break it up and give you (and each other a break!). 24hrs is too much time to fill with constant interaction, we ALL need a little down time to veg!

:)

I'm bored in my house is immediately met with either chores or school work. Amazing how quickly they learn to entertain themselves when faced with pulling weeds or doing worksheets.

My son LOVES the opportunity to build a fort. Give them some blankets, some clothes line, and some clothes pins, and let them go at it! I also LOVED doing this as a kid, either inside, or out! Once they've spent half the day planning and constructing it, then they can use their imaginations to play inside it! Play house, pretend to be stranded on a deserted island, pretend to be camping at the lake, pretend to be rescue workers taking care of folks from a storm, etc... we did this kind of stuff constantly as kids...

Love Lee P's idea! Kids LOVE building forts! Then they can make a pillow campfire & "cook" some stuff.

Games, crafts, puzzles, cards, Legos, Lincoln Logs, Barbies (? I have a boy!), Minute to Win It challenges, Cuponk (while HUGELY annoying) keeps the interest for awhile --banish them to another room to play it).

And (I'm going to go ahead and say this--I'll bet it's pretty durn common practice) on rainy days, etc., Wii games or online games or movies are fine.

At least yours can go outside & at least they have playmates... Try dealing with a 5 year old only DD for one summer here in Phoenix. It was 100 degrees at 10pm last night. Our summers are like snowy climates in the winter. Our kids can't really play outside until October, unless it's water related, but at this point in the summer, it's absolutely miserable outside.

Put them to work or say, "Sucks to be you!" But do not offer suggestions as to what they can do. That's their job to entertain themselves (as long as it doesn't hurt them, others or property).

Did they forget they can play together inside? Board games and such. Even hide and go seek. I was quite hyper as a child but I could sit under a tree and read forever. Had to be under a tree though, I was a strange kid.

Boredom is a GOOD thing :) :) :)

You want it in your house, because it does a very important thing.

Boredom breeds creativity.

Let them get completely and mind numbingly bored. And then watch the magic that unfolds when their brains turn on. :) Warning: Sometimes it can take a couple days. Try setting aside a week of no planned activities, no electronics. Just smile at them, and watch them flail and then figure it out.

How bout some board games or card games they can play together??

I think you're doing an amazing job. We shouldn't have to entertain. I dont remember my mom entertaining us. she kicked us out. sent us to the park, to VBS, to the neighbors house, to play in the sprinkler. She had one answer to "im bored"......clean your room.

Honestly I don't think it's fair to work from home without childcare. I am doing it myself for the first time this summer, 3 days a week, and I've got play dates scheduled three weeks out for my younger boys (5 & 7). The older kids manage to find friends to hang out with and can usually walk or bike to their houses. If the problem is that you can't give them sustained attention because you are working, then try setting up some play dates or consider hiring a mother's helper. Yes unstructured time is good, but it's hard to expect kids who have had the structure and social contact of school to suddenly be able to entertain themselves for more than an hour here or there. You may have a lot more luck if you have friends over - I find that with no friends over, the kids get antsy in about an hour but with friends, they entertain themselves almost all day, just like when we were kids and we would go off all day with our friends. We're going to hit a patch during the summer when a lot of their friends are away on vacation or at camp, so for those weeks I will hire a mother's helper to take them to the playground, go on bike rides, etc. while I work.

Honestly? I tell mine to go play outside. I don't make it a habit to entertain them... They've both learned to do so on their own.

M. R hit the nail on the head.
Mine are hit with extra chores too. I give mine a toothbrush, toothpicks and q-tips and tell them to deep clean the bathroom.
Or q-tips and deep clean the window sashes.
I have also said make something-there's cookies, jello, brownies, etc

Fortunately mine love to read and in the morning they are in different camps, the afternoon is swim team, so by 7pm they are pretty much exhausted.
Check the park district, we are doing art camp, sports camp, we did music camp last week, VBS is coming up, Boy scout camp, fencing, and possibly tennis in August.

I always found having their friends over helped keep them entertained and out of my hair. I know it seems like MORE kids in the house would equal more work, but it wasn't that way for us. There was actually less bickering and less complaining. Plus you may get the perk of your girls then being invited over to their friends houses for a play dates, giving you the occasional break :)

Kids are so used to being entertained, the lose their creative side! For fun, go to the library and get a book of old party games. I used this for years at my son's parties and everyone thought it was so cool that I "invented" fun games! Potato races, for example. Or "the memory game" where you put a bunch of objects on a tray and cover them, then remove the cover and give the kids 1 minute to study, then cover or remove the tray. Then they list all the things they can remember. Takes a while. This presumes that the 5 year old can write well enough.

If you have a basement or play area, let them build something that takes time and requires a lot of different things - my kid used Brio train tracks and Legos and K'nex, and mixed them together to build huge "cities". Go to yard sales and pick up toys for a bargain, and let them combine them.

How about creating some sort of habitat out of things they find in nature? Turning it into a diorama or an art project? My son build ant farms with large clear containers (recycle the things that fresh produce comes in). Is there a spot outside they can dig in and create a "moonscape"?

Can you set up an umbrella outside? Do you live on a street where they can have a lemonade stand? Make signs, make change, etc.? If the bugs are mosquitos, if you can put them on a porch or patio with a fan, the "breeze" will keep the mosquitos away.

Can they create a skit or play for the adults to enjoy? By the time they create it, memorize lines and find costumes to wear, it should be at least an hour.

Let them know that only boring people are ever bored!

How about cooking, have them put on a play or dress up, musems. Not sure about the schools around you but for lunch at the schools around my house serve lunch for free for children during certin times of the day and that would be a cheap easy way to get them lunch also see a couple of friends for a hour or 2. Also it doesn't matter how much income you have its for anyone plus the more kids that show up the more money the school recieves.

Or you can make them a chore chart and get them to start cleaning but make it a game with a reward system. Also you can look up on the internet summer fun activities an you can find new things to do as well..

Have fun .... I am in the same spot but its me I am trying to entertain.hehe :)

On the rainy days we go bowling. Google kids bowl free :) they get 2 free games a day all summer long. We don't go every day so it keeps it's excitement.

Can you exchange playdates with a trusted friend? You host one week, she hosts the next week.

A tent in the backyard is always fun and keeps them entertained for a while.

How about party games? For example, they can search for safety pins, paper clips, whatever in a bowl of dried rice while blindfolded. They can time each other and try and beat each others time. Or play memory where one person has to leave the room, the other person takes something out of the room, and then the first person has to figure out what's missing. Or hide and seek with a stuffed animal or kitchen timer. The timer is easier because they can set it and it will make the ticking sound and makes it easier to find.

Next time you go to the library pick up one of those kids activities books. They have books with titles along the lines of .....activites with no TV; unplugged activies, etc.

can they create a "newspaper" or book for their friends? can they write and practice a play that they can perform for you when you are done working? Is there a summer camp they can go to parttime? When i was working from home I paid a teenaged neighbor to bring my kids to the pool and their swimteam practices and just generally entertain them. i paid her $5/hr well worth it!

Give them a song and ask them to make up a dance. I LOVED doing that when I was little...and feel bad for my daughter who doesn't have a sister to do that with. Do they like to read? Can they have 20-30 minutes of reading every day? Can they have a total of 1 hour of TV a day? What about a Wii or a Kinnect? Anything like that? I know that's TV, but it's energy. Give them magazines and have them cut out letters for their names....or get paint kits for them to paint their letters of their names to hang on their walls. Can they have 30 minutes of playing with baby time in a day? Do they take naps or rest? What about water play? Chalk? Jump ropes? Skip hops? Sprinkler? Do they want to come weed my garden? Or plant some flowers for me? LOL...lots to do, but I get that it's hard to keep them entertained or give them new ideas when you're working. Thats why my kiddo's still go to daycare. I work from home, but I work 8 hours a day still. Makes it tricky! Or come to Luray Caverns with us on Friday!!

I don't think its realistic to say NO TV at all. I'm a SAHM in the summers and frankly, I don't know how you year round SAHM's could keep the kids busy 24/7 without a couple hours of tv. I was an only child and watched my fair share of tv when I was young and I turned out pretty good so I don't think its a huge detrement to them unless they sit there all day long. So that being said, and if you have grass, maybe get one of those slip and slide things that squirt water and the kids play in them. If you have Walgreen's there, they sell them for $10 and have spongebob, cars and princesses. Otherwise I'm not really sure what else you could do..I know, not much help! Sorry but I hope you find some new ideas! :o)

What about getting them some books that they will enjoy, and sending them to read for 30 minutes?

I think they need at least some time each day away from home. It's too much to expect kids to entertain themselves all day, every day, all summer. You have to break it up a little bit. I know you said you work from home. I used to do that too, and I know how hard it is. During the summers, I had to work more evenings and weekends because it wasn't possible to be working those large chunks of time when the kids were home, it wasn't really fair to them. I think you have to plan some outings, park, playground, beach, museums, etc into your day. You don't have to spend a lot of money. At least if you have someplace to take them in the morning for a few hours, they'll be more ready to relax and entertain themselves at home in the afternoon. If you can't get out a little bit each day, seriously consider finding some summer programs or camps for them. Not full time child care, just a few hours here and there, a week of this and that, sports, arts/crafts, theater, community ed, etc. Or, do you have any relatives they can spend some time with? Playdate exchanges are good too. Do they play with any neighbor kids? Plan a weekend "kids BBQ" for your block so all the kids can come and meet each other. If it's like my neighborhood, everyone goes to different schools, and breaking the ice is the toughest part. Once the kids know all the other kids comfortably, "going outside to play" becomes easier and more fun. Good luck!

Give them each a few sturdy (chinet) paper plates, and elmers glue. Send them outside to find and collect twigs, grass, leaves, sand, bugs, acorns, pebbles, rocks, whatever,, and make a scenic picture on the plates.(ok no bugs) Its neat to see how artistic a kid can be with stuff they find on the ground.
Give them each a bucket of water, and a nice wide paint brush and let them "paint" the fence or deck... cant hurt, and its sorta fun actually.
Get a yard of fabric and tear it into 4ths,, down the center, and across the middle, cut off the selvaged edge too. Or buy some FAT QUARTERS at the fabirc store and have them unravel about 2 inches on the sides of each one and make cloth napkins for the dinner table. If you can sew a straight line about 2 inches in from the edges it will help stop them from unraveling more, but they can still do the sides if you cant sew.
Get them some card stock paper, or large recipe cards and some ink stamps and pads and let them stamp a design on one side of each to write post cards to grama. sorta more fun than coloring.
Get cardboard boxes from the grocery store and let them build a castle outside.
If you have a sloping yard, and its not all fancy and nice, give them small garden trowels and let them dig a river curving down the hill and make a lake at the bottom. Have them haul buckets of water to the top and pour it in and watch it wind its way down the hill and fill the lake. a few small plastic boats would be fun too.