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4 Take-Along Kid Vacation (or Staycation) Boredom Busters

Entertaining your kids on a long road trip can be a challenge. Be prepared by creating a Boredom Buster Box from a recycled cereal box, and fill it with four different fun activities for all your kid vacation adventures. Or, use these boredom busters to have fun at home on your staycation.

Recycle a cereal box into a boredom buster box - take with you in the car on vacation, or use for a staycation

First: Create a Boredom Buster Box

Before you start collecting fun activities for the kids to do, you need a handy box to put them all in! A recycled Kix cereal box makes the perfect carrying case for all your fun activities. Make sure you help your kids cut the box open.

Make a boredom buster box out of a cereal box and take with you in the car on road trips

What you need to create a Boredom Buster Box:

  • A recycled Kix cereal box
  • Felt scraps
  • Decorative paper
  • Glue
  • Markers
  • Self-stick hook and eye tape dot
  • Craft knife (parents only)
  • Kid-appropriate scissors

Make It:

Create a boredom buster box out of a cereal box

1. Parents Only: With a craft knife, carefully cut open the side of a cereal box on three sides.

Create a vacation boredom buster box

2. Cover the inside of the box with a piece of decorative paper.

3. Add a pocket to the inside of the box by gluing a piece of felt to the decorative paper.

4. Cover the outside of box with decorative paper, if desired.

5. Add a closure to the outside of the box by gluing a tab of felt to the cover of the box and adding a self-stick dot of hook and loop tape to the box.

Four Boredom Buster Activities:

1) Felt Play Board
Boredom buster activity: Felt play board
Cut a piece of cardboard a bit smaller than the carrying case (so it will fit inside the case), then cover it with felt, securing the felt with glue. Cut various shapes, figures, and letters out of felt to use on the play board.

 

2) Take-Along Board Games
Boredom Buster Box: Take-Along Board Games

Buy or create a portable game board to include in your Boredom Buster Box. We got our fold-up cardboard checkerboard at the dollar store, and drew a Tic Tac Toe game on the blank side. Use the checker pieces to play both games.

3) Band-Aid Monsters
Band-aid monsters - fun boredom buster for kids
Band-aids aren’t just for boo-boos; decorate colorful band-aids with googly eyes and funny faces, and use them as impromptu finger puppets when boredom strikes. Glue googly eyes on with white glue and allow to dry; draw funny features with a permanent marker. Store band-aid monsters in your carrying case inside pocket to save for later play.

4) Googly Eye Bombing Kit
Googly eye bombing - add googly eyes to objects around your home or out and about
Googly eye bombing is the art of adding googly eyes to inanimate objects. Tuck some self-stick googly eyes into the Boredom Buster kit so kids can add googly eye to items around your home or as you travel. (Be sure to teach them about getting permission before googly eye bombing anything that doesn’t belong to them!)

Boredom buster travel kit

Have fun taking your Boredom Buster kit wherever you go!

Heather Mann is the mother of four boys, and is constantly on the lookout for fun games, activities, and recipes to keep her busy boys, well, busy. She designs and shares clever crafts with a frugal twist at her site Dollar Store Crafts and ideas for being the best mom ever (on a budget) at Dollar Store Mom.