Today we feature a guest post from Emily Patterson.  I would like to wish all our Canadian readers a very happy Thanksgiving! One thing I am deeply thankful for is that Growing Creative Kids puts me in contact with wonderful people wanting to share their knowledge.

Submitted on behalf of Primrose Schools: early preschool education and child care services by Emily Patterson (@epatt1062)

As you get back into the routine of taking, sending, or watching the kids go off to school while the leaves are changing colors a little by little each day of Fall, it is easy to long for the warm summer days spent lounging next to a body of water. However, do that no more! Beating the boredom of shorter days and longer nights is easier than you think.

As with any season, all you need to do for a bit of excitement, with or without the kids, is look around. Mother nature is dropping little treats all over the ground just waiting for someone to turn it from waste to fun. Boredom is nothing more than being unwilling to engage, or so I was told by my favorite professor in college. 

With school work and the rush to get the kids’ projects taken care of on time, there is growing tension in the home. This naturally happens from the new year and new pressures and schedules. Now is the time to take advantage of what is around you. It is important to make sure that something fun and relaxing can be integrated into daily routines for you and your children’s mental and physical health. 

Studies have shown that stress can weaken the immune system and make catching that nasty cold a little bit easier. A refreshed mind is also more likely to retain new knowledge during the new school year. 

Here are 10 Wallet Friendly Ways to Beat/Fall Boredom

Image via Wikipedia

1. Picking apples at an apple orchard that allows you to pick your own fruit is a fantastic way to buy produce. It allows you to get more for your money. Picking apples and bringing them home with you provides a number of different uses for them that can entertain you and your children for weeks. Bake a delicious, fresh apple pie from scratch! It’s a healthier treat than something processed and packaged. More importantly, you will be able to use it as a bonding experience with your children or your significant other. Making the dough for the crust, cutting apples and seasoning the apple mixture filling takes a little time. This offers the opportunity to unwind and share stories from recent events at work or school. 

2. Apples for apples, with Halloween right around the corner, how cool would it be to pass out homemade candied apples for treats instead of the same old candy corn like other years? Pick the apples yourself again, and candy them. Wrap them in a colorful cellophane, and tie them with a pretty, matching ribbon. Your kids will be impressed, and so will the neighborhood!

3. On a rainy day, make homemade potpourri. Take two or three of the apples you have in the bushel you’ve spent a day picking, and peel them. Drop the scrapings into a bowl or container of some kind. Mix with a variety of options in a small pot of water. You could use orange or lemon peels. Cinnamon sticks, cloves or crushed cinnamon with nutmeg is a delicious scent. Add maple syrup and vanilla extract, and turn the water on to simmer. The scent will fill your home. You can always use a small crock pot with the same ingredients. A crock pot will allow you to put the homemade potpourri anywhere in your home or office.

4. It’s all about a bicycle! Determine the most scenic bike route you could take on a regular basis. This way, you can see the slow change of the foliage in that area. There is another good reason to do this, but you’ll have to continue reading to find out!

5. Whether its a cell phone camera or your favorite, ultra-fancy digital camera, take a photograph on your bike ride every day. After a month or two, you can see the changing of the leaves photo by photo. If you are inclined, a really fun way to use these photos would be to put them one by one on each page of a scrap book. Under each photo, write a note about something funny or kind someone in your family said to you the day that photo of the tree was taken. 

6. Raking leaves can be a great way to save money if you do it yourself, but there are other fantastic benefits to enjoy about this task! Make it a family affair, and burn the leaves in a charcoal grill or chiminea if you have one. If you live in certain areas, you can just rake the leave into a pile and set the pile on fire. Roast marshmallows on the fire from the leaves.

7. Aside from burning fallen leaves, take them gently from the ground and incorporate them into your scrap book. Perhaps you could pick up a few leaves from each tree you photograph and glue them into the scrapbook with the photograph you have chronicled. day-by-day or week-by-week. 

8. Volunteer work can be fun. You could volunteer to walk dogs in a local shelter. Serve food at a soup kitchen. Giving your time to a cause that helps humans or animals can make you feel good about yourself while you spread some good around the world.

9. Start making popcorn strings or topiaries for holiday decorations. For strings, get a needle, thread and popcorn. For the topiary, you can glue them to the foam ball. Liven up traditional popcorn decor by using food coloring to bring a blast of colors to traditional festive decor. 

10. I’ve saved my favorite for last. Mosaic an old end table, coffee table, picture frame or even the dining room table. You can find plenty of expensive tiles in crafts stores or you can save a jar of pennies, bottle caps, or glass bottles. If you use glass bottles that are green or other colored glass. You will also have to be very careful when breaking them. Wrap them in a thickly folded sheet and smash them with a hammer. Wear goggles. Whatever kind of mosaic pieces or surfaces you use, you will need to glue each piece to the surface. Then you will need to use a grout to smooth into the grooves of the spaces between the mosaic pieces. This will secure the durability of the overall creation.

With all of this information, you don’t have to let a recession or economic hard times keep you from having a bonding and fun experience with your family every chance you get. See what everyone thinks and start somewhere. The most important thing is to have a great time!