Beating the Never-Ending Summer Blues

I feel like summer has been going on since Spring Break. Technically, my kids had school (albeit at home), starting about 2 weeks after Spring Break ended. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, home has been our prison of a sorts. I have gotten creative with challenging their minds. Free time has been filled with reading, writing and as much learning as I can get them into without exhausting them. I recreated this one game I saw on Pinterest (see my blog post here).

What to do when boredom strikes....

Sadly, that game has gotten too repetitive. We started a challenge every night at dinner where I would ask questions. Mostly from history, though I threw in some geographical ones too. I was amazed how few things my children could answer. They know only the things we have taught them on World War 2, Lewis and Clark, the Boston Tea Party, the Vietnam War, the Great Wall of China... My younger son actually said he thought the Great Wall of China was built to keep out the Mexicans! *palm to forehead here* They just finished 4th grade! But I digress. I started them reading books and writing reports on historical events that I find important. I also got a book on geography for them to study over the summer. And while this is all great stuff, I can't overwhelm them with learning all the time. Not unless I can make it fun.

So off to Pinterest I went again. My searches always bring up great ideas later on. And that is where this next challenge came up. It involves Lego, which my children have lots of. You will also need a timer and an account with Teachers Pay Teachers. Don't worry, this printable is completely free! The LegoLibrarian is a genius. I plan to head back for other challenge ideas later.

Here is how the game works:

Each child gets to build an island. I gave my kids 20 minutes to do so with any Lego pieces they wanted. Once the timer dinged, I handed each one a handful of pieces more and took the rest away. I set the timer for 15 minutes more after letting them pick from the challenge cards here.

When that time was up, my husband and I had each child explain their island and how they overcame their challenges. Today was the first time we did it and it was a success. 2/3 kids really put in the effort to add details.

The challenge for this kid was to build a trap to catch a thief.

My daughter had to find another way to make food for her island.

So give it a go! And don't forget to share the fun with us. Let me know in the comments below how your kids liked it or what you think is best about this little game!