1. Your uncle invites your family to spend a week at his lake cabin, so you:
a. bring watercolor paints to capture sunsets and landscapes.
b. pack bug spray and a 500-piece puzzle.
c. complain that there won’t be any cell service.
2. Your cousin comes over for the day. Together, you:
a. design a floating bridge between California and Hawaii, complete with gas stations and food stops.
b. take turns trying to throw popcorn into each other’s mouths.
c. watch your favorite video for the 47th time and fall asleep before it ends.
3. Dad challenges you to write a funny story. You:
a. write about a lobster that couldn’t hold a pencil in its claw.
b. copy your name 100 times.
c. pretend to be a lobster, so you can’t write.
4. A rain shower turns into a three-day drip. You:
a. create a rain gauge to measure the precipitation.
b. sit with all your stuffed animals on your bed, like Noah.
c. smash your nose against the window and grumble about the weather.
5. Mom makes you sign up for the summer reading program at the library, so you:
a. read that new book series you’ve heard so much about.
b. check out books with illustrations and scan the pictures.
c. watch several movies that are based on books.
6. You want to change your room around, which means you:
a. turn your bedroom upside down—literally!
b. put your nightstand on the other side of your bed.
c. clean it. That’s enough of a change.
7. Your family visits Yellowstone National Park. You:
a. start a journal and photo album to remember the trip.
b. fill your mouth with water and act like a geyser.
c. sleep the entire car ride to make the trip shorter.
8. You have a free afternoon, so you:
a. take your two favorite games and invent a new one using pieces from both.
b. hang upside down from a tree limb until you fall.
c. sit on a rock and count the freckles on your arm.
9. Dad takes you to the hardware store. While he shops, you:
a. imagine the cool tree house you could build with these tools.
b. count nails.
c. follow him around asking, “Are you almost done?”
10. Your friends want to start a summer club. You suggest:
a. genius club—everyone chooses a subject and learns all they can.
b. comedy club—you compete to see who can tell the meanest joke.
c. leaf club—each person chooses a tree and counts its leaves.
If you answered:
Mostly A: Congratulations! You’re exercising the creativity God has given you. Boredom doesn’t stand a chance.
Mostly B: Think fast before your creativity muscle shrinks. Use your free time to learn, play or make something useful.
Mostly C: You are in danger of becoming bored stiff. Don’t waste your summer vacation. Get out there and have fun!
Boredom Busters
Try these ideas or brainstorm a list of your own. (You may need to get a parent’s permission for some of them.)
1. Master your family’s camera. Read the instruction manual and a library book on photography. Practice what you learn. Take pictures of scenes around your house or your toes peeking out of the bed covers.
2. Create your own cookbook. Look through cookbooks and online. Write the recipes on cards or notebook paper. Put them together in a booklet and decorate the cover.
3. Draw a picture or write a joke and send it to your favorite children’s magazine.
4. Go through old family photos. Scan the funny ones and make a slide show for your next family night.
5. Write a gift-giving list for Christmas. Think of people’s hobbies or special interests. See how many gifts you can make by yourself.
6. Plan family devotions. Include a dramatized Bible story, a quiz to make sure everyone got the point and ways to practice what you learned. Don’t forget a snack.
7. Start a Good Deeds Club. Do secret good deeds for your neighbors. See how long you can keep your neighbors from finding out who’s being so nice.
