Summer Plans

I have been trying to come up with something that could keep our kids occupied for the summer and prevent the, "I'm so bored!" whines that had already been mumbled before school was even out.  I happened to read this blog where a woman (with five kids!) said she had planned summer bingo for her kids in prior years.

Basically she set up a bingo board each week with a different activity in each box.  When the kids got a bingo they got a ticket and tickets could be redeemed for special things.  The bigger the "special reward" the more tickets it required. 

I thought this sounded fantastic and after I downloaded her templates, Mike and I got to work coming up with some activities for the kids.  We wanted activities that were a form of physical "exercise", educational, artistic, chores, and just plain fun.  We also changed some of the rules she originally listed to go more with how our household worked.  Tickets can be taken away for bad behavior too.  If they complete the entire board within one week, they earn $2.

The kids will receive their new bingo boards every Sunday and they have to be completed by the following Saturday; boards can't be saved and worked on later.  All activities have to be approved by Mike or I and we are the ones who say when a sticker has been earned.

Maddie and Jake received their bingo boards yesterday.  They went gangbusters with it from the get-go.  By yesterday evening Jake was thrilled because he'd completed four of the tasks.  Maddie went to town this morning while Jake was at basketball camp and completed six activities.

This picture was taken this morning.  By tonight each of them had completed most of their indoor activities.  The darn rain is hampering their game!

Some of the activities are repeated every week:  they have to do a math worksheet and read a newspaper article to name a couple.  There's one "big" activity that they both have on their sheets so I've told them to make sure they compare sheets to find out what they can do together.  And there are some activities that require them to interact.  This morning Maddie asked Jake no less than five times if he could finally play a board game with her.  (She had a square that required she play a game with her brother.)  He was too busy completing his tasks.  BUT...he found one that required her help so they took turns "helping" the other. WITH.OUT.FIGHT.ING. 

[Cue the angels]

So we are off and running.  Maddie has already suggested some ideas for next week's card.  I've already created all the boards, but if they come up with some clever ideas, I'm definitely open to changes.

If you are interested in checking out our bingo cards, let me know and I'll forward our rules and cards to you.