summer boredom buster popsicle sticks

I love summer!  I love having my kids home which means we don’t have to deal with homework, schedules, sports and commitments.  We get to swim multiple times a day and sleep in. I love not having to be ready before noon and enjoy going to a movie when we feel like it or grabbing lunch with cousins last minute and having movie days in our jammies and just being home.  (I’m aware that is a giant run-on sentence, lol) With 2 1/2 acres to tidy up and multiple farm animals to take care of, I don’t hear “Mom, I’m bored” very often because the kids know I’ll say “there’s always something to do outside!” BUT we do have a hard time being creative with new ideas, especially since we’re spoiled with grandma’s pool next door.  So I came up with these summer boredom buster popsicle sticks and the kids had fun throwing ideas at me on what to write on them.

The first part of the project is dipping your sticks in three different colors of acrylic paint.  My kids had fun with this part!  Why three, you ask? Because we organized our activities into three categories:

• Orange = Inside Activities
• Pink = Outdoor Activities
• Green = Away from Home Activities

Simply dip your sticks in the paint and let air dry.

While those are drying, assemble your jar to hang in near your command station like I did for easy access. And it’s up high so little hands can’t bump the glass. For quick hanging, we copied our mason jar bathroom storage technique, very easy and our only cost was $1.47 for the clamp. We cut a piece of wood down to 8″ x 8″ and routered the edges. (You can also purchase a plaque from your local hobby store, use your 40% off coupon!) Paint the board brown (so it will show through in the end) then paint it white. For easy chevron, we used Scotch tape and free handed 2 rows to give it a quick design. Peel off the tape and admire your new pattern. If you like it grunged up like we do, go crazy with your sander!  This step is optional as you can just store your sticks in a jar on your windowsill (:

These awesome AC clamps can be found in the hardware department at your local home improvement store. I spray painted mine turquoise to give it a pop of color so it wasn’t as industrial looking. I then used these punches and hammered a hole through the back of the clamp. Warning: you’ll definitely exercise some arm muscle (; Screw your clamp into the wood and you have a very secure mason jar holder!

Fill your jar with your custom popsicle stick activities and avoid that oh so common “Mom? I’m bored” struggle!

This can also be used as a chore chart, reward system, etc. Who isn’t motivated by pretty colors (:

If you’re looking for ideas, we shared 100 family time ideas last year which helped pull inspiration for the popsicle sticks!

Check out all of our summer  projects on our blog plus all our mason jar crafts or tons more on our summer Pinterest board or follow along on Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest… but let’s be honest, you’ll see us most frequently on Instagram! (;

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