How to banish summer boredom

I'm a jeweller
Younger and older kids alike can enjoy creating their own special necklace. Use egg cartons to organise beads for your older kids and macaroni for the younger set. Older kids can thread the beads using fishing line, and make long enough to slip over their head. Pre-schoolers will enjoy threading their noodles onto shoelaces. (Younger children should not wear necklaces when unsupervised.)

I'm a city planner
Does your child enjoy playing with trains or cars? With a bit of help from you, he can create his own city - the perfect play area for those cars, lorries, trains and play people. Buy an inexpensive vinyl tablecloth with felt backing. Use the back of the tablecloth to draw roads, houses, parks, schools, etc., with permanent markers. Or cut out pieces of felt in the shape of lakes, trees, animals and people. This activity encourages your child's creativity and imagination.

I'm a clothing designer
Kids can create their own special T-shirt. Purchase an inexpensive light-coloured cotton shirt. You will also need a thick piece of cardboard or a paper shopping bag, non-toxic colourfast markers or paint for fabrics and masking tape. Set up a work space and stretch the T-shirt over the cardboard or shopping bag, securing with tape. Once the materials are assembled, allow your child to have free rein - designing a T-shirt that's totally unique.

I'm an entomologist
Do your kids love bugs? Then this is the perfect 'job' for them. Younger children love to catch bugs and observe them. (First, find out which bugs in your area are best avoided.) Using a cleaned out jar with holes in the lid, set out to capture an insect. Put a bit of grass in the bottom of the jar to give this little creature a place to hide, and don't keep it for more than a few hours. Keep a notebook, listing the bugs you have found in your own garden.

Younger kids may enjoy drawing a picture of the insects they have found. For older children, buy a piece of foam board from an art supply store. Start a bug collection, using a pin to mount bugs on the foam. Using a field guide, identify and label the bugs you've found. (Mum may want to keep this treasure in the garage.)