Ideas Please!

This is a very special jar.  It is a jar full of possibilitities.  Like the beginning of a new day the possibilities in this jar are endless.  Like a good book, this jar can take us places.  This is our "mom, I'm bored and want to do something fun" jar. 

I started it two summers ago when Mooky began asking to do something fun.  Every summer, despite the fact that summers for us are no different than the rest of the year because the girls aren't school age, Mooky begins to say she is bored and "wants to do something fun!".  Every summer, I about lose my mind hearing the phrase "I want to do something fun!".  So I filled this jar with fun things the girls and I can do.

What I love about this jar is all of the fun memories I get to create with my girls and that I can take a little time from the daily chores to really focus on the kids.  However, I know that if I'm fearful the ideas in the jar are going to take "too much work" on my part I will shy away from using the jar.  I will only fill it with ideas of things we can do on the spur of the moment and that don't take hours on end to complete.  For example, you will not find any field trips in the jar because to leave my house and complete any errand takes a minimum of two hours.

That is where you all come in.  I need some new ideas for the jar.

What we have in there so far is:

*Have a picnic (this can be a real one outside or a pretend one with pretend food)

*Play pretend camping

*Have a puppet show

*Jump rope

*Do a craft project (I need to come up with some specific ideas to back this one up; because, when they pick it I always panic)

*Build a zoo with blocks (this is something Mooky really likes to do, but it could simply be "build with blocks")

*Make a book (just stapling together construction paper and letting the kids draw in it)

*Play hide and seek

*Have a race

*Read a story

I recently found this blog post about the same jar idea.  She has a lot of chores in her jar though and I only want my jar to have fun things that we don't usually take the time to do everyday.  She also has some other ideas I like, but they are things we already do on a regular basis or things I know will cause a fight between the girls.  Although I certainly let the girls do things that I know will end in a fight, this particular jar is supposed to promote fun.   I am planning on adding the following from her list though:

*Look through a photo album or scrapbook

*Write a letter or make a card for someone

*Play with sidewalk chalk

What other ideas do you all have for me?  What are some of your kids favorite "special" activities?  Just click on "comments" below to share them.