My 7 Year Old Is Soooooo Bored at Home This Summer......

Just read this the other day. Cut arm holes and a head hole in a pillowcase and let him paint it with craft paint. He can make super-heroes or whatever he wants.

He needs to read everyday. Legos, art supplies, maybe a simple car model, a book of science experiment activities. Get him outside! Build a fort, sidewalk chalk, frisbee, ride bikes. Personally my kids aren't even allowed to say that they are board. I tell them only boring people get bored and to use your imagination to figure out what you want to do and then do it.

All good suggestions..

Can he invite any of his school friends over?

Can you play restaurant? Give him a budget. Have him come up with a menu, when you all grocery shop let him "buy his own groceries."
Help him cook, have him serve you and your husband.. have him bus the table.. give him tips (cash)..

Set up a tent in the back yard and camp out.. If you do not have a tent, borrow one and both of you learn how to set it up.

Close up all of the drapes in the TV room, pile up all of the cushions and pillows and some sheets to build a fort, then watch movies like a drive in in the dark.

Teach him how to sew on a button, then get him to replace lost buttons.. Pay him for his "tailoring skills."

Get 2 puzzles or 3, 100 piece puzzles and mix them all up.. Have him do 3 puzzles all at once.

Teach him how to make homemade ice cream.

Make an "I spy" list and walk around the neighborhood looking for the things on the list.

3 times a week, plan on going to the pool in the afternoon. Maybe have a friend meet him there.

Both of you try to learn to juggle.. Teach him how to dance. Teach him a new board game when the baby is taking a nap.

When your husband gets home one of you take him to an evening movie..Another night skating, pick up a friend to go with him.

Here in town there are a ton of book stores and libraries that have story time with activities.. I used to plan around these..

This is what we've been getting into: day-time 'camping trips' in the backyard, picnics, CLEANING AND SORTING THE KIDS ROOM (this is done by the kids, with limited supervision, and a big reward at the end if it's done without whining!), the kids help me make all their own meals and are learning to help clean up (instead of putting your dishes in the sink, rinse them and put them in the dishwasher.. you can rearrange them later), lots of puzzles, books, and games... one hour of tv in the morning so I can work, planting flowers in the yard, pulling weeds, walking around the block picking up litter (lots of that, it only takes 30 minutes and they take great pride in cleaning up the Earth)... my older daughters teacher gave her a bunch of old schoolbooks and work books, so the kids play 'school'... sprinklers, kiddy pools, and slip and slides are awesome (you can sit to the side and get some sun too!) We also live close to the river, and go there often and check out the wildlife... whoever finds the coolest thing wins a sticker. BUBBLES and side walk chalk are awesome. 7 years old is a tough age, some of the stuff I mentioned might be a little juvenile, but might also keep him entertained. Best wishes!

Do you have a sprinkler and outside toys? I grew up in the deep south playing outside all summer long. I highly endorse it and believe all children should be outside most of the time! Bikes, soccer balls and goal nets, badminton, slip-n-slides, nature kits, etc. Also -head to the library once or twice a week and let him check out a ton of books. That was also a favorite summer activity of mine. He needs to read a lot. Get some art supplies including a pot-latch kit or a latch hook kit at a crafts store. Kids of both genders LOVE doing that -cross-stitch too! Let him cook -kids his age are actually great at it and enjoy it too.

Do you have a community public pool? I would spend a great deal of time there!

A few ideas:
A slip and slide
Variations of scavenger hunts at your house. Make a big list of items he needs to find (a pink flower, a newspaper, etc.). He can just check off what he finds inside and outside the house.
A bubble blowing machine
A big roll of paper that he can color/draw on
Books from the local library. Our seven year old loves the Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Captain Underpants and Bionicle series.
A beginning wood working kit. Our son just got into this. Give him a hammer, nails and some wood and he's busy for a while.
Playdates. Invites some of his former classmates/friends over.

Invite one of his school friends to come over for a few days.
Start a book club with the neighborhood kids. Everyone read the same book and then get together once a week to discuss your selection.
Get outside and build a fort.
Flip on the sprinkler, slather on the sunscreen and have fun.
Slip-n-slide.
Waterballoons.
Wood-working in the garage (pick a project each week, like a kid sized picnic table, birdhouses, etc..)
BB-guns are cheap and every boy in my family (going back a couple of generations) gets one on his 7th b-day as a right of passage. Hang a couple of soda cans from tree branches and you've got hours of entertainment value.
If you have a good sized basement of garage, you can go to your local appliance store and ask them for the boxes that they take the floor models out of. Then you can build a huge complex fort out of them or cut one up to make a puppet show stage etc...
I think you can find fingerpaint recipes online, so make a huge batch with different colors, then get a "remnant" roll of newsprint paper from your local printing office (usually free, always at least cheap). Lay out the paper in the garage, "paint" the kids and have them roll around on the paper. Hose down the kids afterward.
Order the books "Backyard Ballistics" and "The Dangerous Book for Boys" from Amazon.com and have a "blast"!
Go to the library and check out some books on DIY projects for kids.
Read him some adventure stories to get his adventure-lust up! I favor books like "Treasure Island" and "The Swiss Family Robinson" etc..
Find a local berry farm of something where you can take the kids to pick berries, or corn or something else that you can take home and teach them to prepare.
etc... etc... just get creative!

That being said, your 7yo is old enough to start thinking of ways to entertain HIMSELF. Don't undervalue boredom. It's a precious commodity in my house because it forces the kids to imagine. I've unplugged our cable for the summer and the kids have never had so much fun! I've also got 5 boys in my house right now (usually I only have my 8yo and my 2yo, but my step son is visiting and my youngest brother is too, we're also hosting my son's friends on a regular basis) ranging from 2yo to 13 and they're all having a great time together with no TV. We still have some DVD's and video games, but I'm only allowing those after the sun has gone down or as a marathon on a recovery day from some big activity.

For example, tomorrow (after our Thursday Homeschool Gym activity) we're going with another family to go swimming in our local river. It's a state park complete with lifeguards et al. The older boys will be allowed to do the river float for a little independent fun without the little kids ($17 for the whole day, they'll shuttle you back to the start point as many times as you want.)

Just get up and get going. You'll find that one activity will end up leading to another and another and another, until all of a sudden your summer is over and you have a head full of great memories left over.

In our town - several churches are offering Vacation Bible School - for a week at a time. Right now, my daughter is attending one that is having a western theme and she is loving it. It's only form 9-12 each day this week, but she loves it. She was just invited to attend 2 more in the area in coming weeks, one that is in the evening, and the other a morning one also, one with a "high Seas" theme, and the other another western theme. The person who invited her to attend - said "we are making the VBS circuit and ran into so and so this week". I guess it's one way to get through the summer affordably! Maybe there is a church or two close to you that is also offering some. I was feeling pretty bad for my daughter as it was starting to look like she might be one of only a few from her Kindergarten class that isn't attending an expensive summer camp, but we just couldn't swing it this year - so I couldn't be happier about her recent invitations. The VBS is free, but they do take an offering at the one that she is attending now. The $ they collect is going to shoeboxes filled with goodies that the missionaries take to other countries to kids in need. I have been sending her with quarters from daddy's coin bucket each day, and we are filling a shoe box with crayons, toothbrushes, toothpaste, bible card games, balls, socks, chalk, and reading books all from the Dollar store. I'm happy to do it - because all in all, it's still much less than $100+ weekly for summer camp!

Also - the local movie theaters often have free kids movies on certain days of the week. Here it's Tue, Wed & ____@____.com haven't made any this year because I was busy on my day off, and this week she has been at VBS - but on the in between weeks we will see what we can catch. Libraries often times have "Story time" too. Good luck!

When my kids were that age I would head to Hobby Lobby or Michael's. I got a ton of play dough, new box of 64 crayons, wooden treasure chests for them to decorate, a tub of sidewalk chalk and any other creative stuff I could find. There are a ton of things at craft stores to find, take him along and he can help pick things out. I also got a tub of Legos at Wal-Mart or Target - there are a few to choose from. If you sew, you can teach him how to sew a pillow case using material he picked out - my oldest son loved doing that. Also, if you like to cook, have him help out - especially if you bake.

Have fun!

I'd like to add something, but there is no need to repeat what others have said.

Look at the flowers for really good ideas. The more flowers the better the ideas according to the people that read mamapedia.

Good luck to you and yours.

same boat here, I have a one and a half year old and an 8 yo, the baby is easier than my oldest, she just walks around the house following me asking: what do I do now? ugh drives me nuts. I'll read your answers to get some ideas,