I don’t know what it is about blanket tents and forts, but kids love them, even when they keep falling down. My only complaint is usually about getting my couch put back together, or about having some floor space again.

Kids can make blanket tents and forts however they like. Once they have the idea, you may not have to help a lot, depending on their age range. With my kids, the main issue I’ve found is that they don’t always understand that you can’t use the full width and length of the blanket as the roof, or that couch cushions need some support to keep standing.

Kitchen chairs make good fort supports too. I’ve shown my kids how clips can be used to hold the blankets in place, so they can make a larger space.

If your child’s bed has high posts, they may be able to make forts over their own beds. That can be fun for bedtime too, although a bit hot on many summer nights. Too little air flow. We use an old fitted sheet over my youngest daughter’s bed as a simple canopy, and blankets can be added to make it into a fort.

What happens once the fort is made is up to your kids. Once it’s stable, you can hope that they’ll keep busy playing for some time.

Paper airplanes are simple, cheap entertainment. They’re best when kids are old enough to fold their own, but still pretty good if you have to take a minute and make one for a younger child.

The key here is finding a good place for your kids to fly them. My kids like to launch from upstairs, as the downstairs room by the stairs goes the entire height of the house and is long enough for a good flight.

If this turns out to be a popular activity, there are books and websites to help kids learn how to fold more paper airplane designs.

Sidewalk chalk is one of those classic toys for kids. The mess is usually easy to clean up.

There are some really fun types of sidewalk chalk now, such as some that comes with glasses to make projects look 3-D. It’s a really nice effect, although not utterly necessary.

You should be a little careful, of course. My kids have been known to drawn on exterior house walls or on the fence, and it doesn’t come off those surfaces so easily. If the kids are out front, you should also consider how neighbors feel about it. Some people can be touchy about chalk drawings staying out longer than the kids who drew them. There are times when it’s more polite to hose down the drawings promptly. I think it’s silly, as chalk goes away pretty fast on its own, but others disagree.

For those who are really into it, there’s a recipe for ice chalk that also looks like a lot of fun for the kids.

I’ve been posting tips to keep kids busy over the summer, but let’s face it. The big thing is whether or not you can get your work done at home with the kids there. Your work-life balance may change quite a bit over the summer when the kids are out of school and you work at home. How can you make sure you’ve got it about right?

Let the Kids Help

Whether it’s having younger kids play at filing papers or “working” on their own computers, or asking the older kids to really help you with some appropriate part of your work, getting the kids involved can be a great idea. This won’t work for every work at home parent – when I did medical transcription, I obviously could not have allowed any of my kids to do any real work of mine for privacy reasons (not to mention it’s too complex). But if your kids can do something alongside you, they may enjoy getting that bit of extra time with you and learning about what it is exactly that you do.

Encourage the Kids to Run Their Own Businesses

My kids are always wanting to do a lemonade stand or some other traditional kid business. If they’re working on their own business, you may be able to focus more on your work… depending on their ages and how much supervision is required while they do it. At the very least, they may learn that running a business takes effort, even if it’s fun sometimes.

Take Appropriate Breaks and Make Them Fun

Appropriate breaks from your work are good for you, and a great time to make sure you’re enjoying having your kids around for the summer. Stop working to eat lunch; don’t just keep going. You can make it into a picnic lunch or a short trip to the park to make things a little more fun.

Make Time For Summer Fun

Don’t just work all day every day all summer. Take some time off to do things as a family. Go swimming. Find a way to take a family vacation, even if it’s nothing more than a weekend away. Short camping trips are pretty inexpensive if you’re looking at a tight budget, and most places have campgrounds close by.

Give the Kids Time With Friends

This is going to be one of my keeping kids busy tips too, but it’s also good for you as a work at home parent. If your kids are playing with friends (at your house or the friend’s), they’re having a good summer and you’re probably getting some good, guilt free work time. If you’re hosting, try for friends where there usually isn’t much drama for you to deal with so you can work rather than supervise.

Claim the Work Time You Need

If you’re working at home and need the income, you can’t just let your family eat up all the time you could use for work. Claim it.

The best work times are when you’re most focused and your family needs you the least. Take a look at your schedule and your family’s routine and figure out when that is. Not all of us can just work early mornings or late evenings, after all.

Close your office door if you can, and make a rule that when it’s closed, the kids are not to bother you short of an emergency. It takes time to train kids to this when they’re younger (my 4 year old still resists), but it’s worth it for the quiet work time.

Hire a Mother’s Helper

If your kids aren’t old enough that you can leave them unsupervised while you work, think about hiring a mother’s helper. There are plenty of bored older kids out of school too, who would love to earn a little money supervising your kids for you.

The great part is that a mother’s helper doesn’t necessarily have to be of an age to babysit, just old enough to deal with your kids with you at home and available for emergencies. When my oldest was a baby, my helper was about 8 years old, if I recall correctly, chosen because she came to my door asking for the job. I wouldn’t have hired her as a sitter at that age, but as someone to keep my baby happy, she was ideal.

These days, my oldest will be taking on that role. This summer, we have clearly talked about how it’s time for her to start learning more how to be in charge of other kids so that she can babysit for other families when she’s old enough (hopefully next year).

Have Healthy Snacks Prepared

My kids are always asking for snacks. It’s what kids do, particularly when they’re bored. I try to keep a good range of healthy snacks available that they can have without asking. It’s just frustrating to be interrupted for something they could do on their own.

It’s pretty simple. Vegetable and fruits are always allowed, except when it’s way too close to dinnertime, and I can make exceptions if they want a vegetable too close to dinner, because that can just be called an early part of the meal if they need it that badly. I just can’t call eating a carrot before dinner “spoiling their dinner” when it’s such a healthy selection.

Certain other snacks are allowed to be had once a day at most. This keeps the kids from overdoing it on the stuff that isn’t quite so healthy, but they don’t have to ask for it every time either. They know that going over the limit may mean that the snack won’t be bought again for a while.

I love having homemade popsicles ready for the kids. Anything from frozen smoothies to pudding popsicles may be in the freezer for them, subject to that one a day rule. They’re healthier than most of the popsicles I might buy at the store, but still much wanted by the kids.

A good sandbox can be hard to find, but well worth the effort. Most that I see are too small for siblings to share easily, even if it’s just two kids. I prefer sandboxes big enough to allow a few kids to play, so they can share with friends.

Once you have the right sandbox, provide a selection of toys and some good quality sand. Make sure that it’s play sand. There are places that sell colored sand, but I stick with the regular stuff. Add a little water (but not too much) and the plain stuff will do just fine.

Whatever sandbox you get, make sure you can put a lid over it. Neighborhood cats love a nice sandbox, and that’s no fun to clean up. It’s even worse if you don’t catch it until the kids have been playing in it for a while.