My girlies have a less than awesome tendency to declare that they are “bored” far too frequently. I always retort with my friend Christine’s genius mantra, “only boring people get bored,” to which they, well, completely ignore. Good times. And given that we have a long winter break in our future (almost 3 weeks sans school, but who’s counting?), conditions are ripe for a litany of boredom declarations. Or not…
Enter (the utterly genius) Unbored.
Authors Joshua Glenn and Elizabeth Foy Larsen have packed this 352 page tome billed as, “The Essential Field Guide to Serious Fun,” with a trove of imaginative ideas and projects designed to delight, inspire, and (most important) occupy kiddos age 8 to 13.
In addition to information ranging from how to use the library to the history of video games, a cadre of 30 diverse makers and thinkers, including writers, environmental activists, illustrators, and crafters, contributed such creative boredom-busting activities as how to build a geyser with a 2-liter bottle of coke and 6 mentos candies, how to make a make a secret book safe, and (my personal favorite given my potty mouth), “how to train your grownup to curse without cursing.”
Count me in Joshua Glenn and Elizabeth Foy Larsen…oh and thank you for salvaging my winter break 2012.
