Photo by: Cottonbro Studio
The summer heat is relentless in New Orleans, but that’s no reason to spend the whole day indoors. There are plenty of indoor and outdoor activities to help alleviate your kid’s boredom. If you are tired of hearing, “I’m booooooored” over and over, here are a few ideas to help you keep them occupied for the rest of summer break.
9 Ideas for Bored Kids This Summer
Explore the major parks. Though some of the nearby State Parks have a small entry fee, the rest are completely free. All of the major parks in the area have amenities like playgrounds, walking trails, and picnic areas that kids and adults alike can enjoy. Lafreniere Park and Fontainebleau State Park even have splash pads for young children.
New Orleans City Park is a 1,300 acre urban park, making it one of the largest in the United States. In fact, it is approximately 50% larger than the municipally recognized Central Park of New York, NY. According to the City Park Conservancy website: “A popular place to fish on the bayou, picnic, experience safe outdoor play, or engage in athletic pursuits—as evidenced by more than 16 million visits each year.” Audubon Park is another fantastic destination. You can also check out the Audubon Zoo. On the second Wednesday of the month from July - December of 2023, Orleans Parish residents can receive free admission to Audubon Zoo through the zoo’s reservation system. Orleans Parish residents can also request free passes to the Audubon Zoo through the New Orleans Public Library Culture Pass Program.
Try a new hobby you can learn at home. Something as simple as juggling or learning to crochet can easily occupy a bored kid’s time for days on end, and there's never harm in learning new skills. This can also mean something like practicing and honing academic expertise. Similar to the premise of dedicating time to learning a new hobby, repetition is the key to mastery, so spending a bit of free time on long division or multiplication tables isn’t the worst idea (despite maybe sounding like it).
Volunteer together. Whether at a local food kitchen, animal shelter, or another nearby organization, volunteering will always be a productive way to spend time that would be wasted being bored. This could also mean organizing a group for one’s own cause, whether that be by way of car wash, garage sale, or any other entrepreneurial endeavor.
Go for bike rides. In this heat, you’ll have to take extra water and shade breaks, but that’s totally fine. While some may not have access to a bike, there are several places to rent bikes around the city, and the implementation of public city bikes is rising. Blue Bikes is an organization dedicated to providing affordable bikes to the city, being a bikeshare program uniquely designed for New Orleans. As detailed by their website, “bringing bikeshare to New Orleans expands transportation options for our residents and visitors at a low cost. Building quality public transit is essential to building a city for the ages.” One can bike around the neighborhood, through the city's numerous parks, and even venture to paths where they can find miles of trail. If you’re up for some trail riding, check out our previous article about mountain bike trails near New Orleans.
Check out a small local park. Another worthwhile activity to stave off boredom is going to small parks and playgrounds for exercise. The New Orleans Recreation Department (NORD) has over 100 parks and facilities within Orleans Parish. These facilities offer activities like team sports, workout equipment, jungle gyms, pools, canoeing, fishing, and even archery. Whether you want to do something indoors or outdoors, the NORD parks have plenty of activities to offer.
Head to a local library. While it may sound a bit less exciting, reading and going to libraries are perfectly fine ways to pass your time. Orleans Parish and Jefferson Parish libraries also have more to offer than just books. They also have music and movies available to check out, and they offer family friendly events for all ages throughout the week. Whether it be reading a book or engaging in an in-person activity, spending time at the library can be both fun and educational for bored kids this summer. In a similar vein, picking up a pen and putting it to paper can be an equally rewarding activity - writing or recording stories opens creativity and requires few resources.
Check out a museum. Many museums also offer free or discounted admission for kids, and they often have interactive exhibits that are equally as entertaining as they are educational. To list a few destinations, Louisiana residents can enjoy free access to the following institutions on specific days each week – Ogden Museum (Thursdays), New Orleans Museum of Art (Wednesdays), New Orleans Botanical Garden (Wednesdays), Contemporary Arts Center (Sundays) and Louisiana Children's Museum (Sunday, Bi-monthly). Some of these passes can be acquired through the library’s Culture Pass program mentioned above. The others need to be reserved directly through the museum.
Have a picnic. Picnics are good ways to solve summer boredom, as it takes few resources and participants. Given the massive amount of public green space available in New Orleans, picnics are a perfect way to enjoy the outdoors and socialize with your loved ones. As long as there's no rain in the forecast, a picnic is a great way to pass the time and to incorporate a change of scenery from your typical meal setting. Additionally, cookouts are also a fantastic way to spend time outdoors, hang out with friends and family, and also eat good food - all at the same time. It’s a win, win, win.
Play some educational games at home. If you have a young child who is bored this summer, it's an easy sell to get them to play some games. Sometimes, they need to take a break from video games and cell phone games and play something real. Playing with tangible items and interacting with someone else is a great way to stimulate engagement, get kids thinking, and create something together. You don’t even have to tell them that the games are educational! Here’s a list of 5 easy educational games to play with kids at home.
Generally, there are more than enough activities and opportunities to have inexpensive fun in New Orleans and entertain bored kids this summer. It helps when you can overcome the challenge of knowing where to look. With that being said, while there are numerous free resources to attend throughout the city, the solution to boredom is much simpler than it may seem at the time. With a bit of creativity and motivation, a bored kid can become engaged in something both fun and meaningful.
