Boredom Blasters: Brain Bogglers, Awesome Activities, Cool Comics, Tasty Treats, and More…

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

Boredom Blasters is one of those books that parents should have on hand
to give to their child[ren] when they find themselves on the receiving
end of that oft-heard child lament “But there’s nothing to do!”
Divided into four major thematic sections, the book’s more than 80
activities range from those that can be carried out by a solitary child
to those that involve two or more children, either as active
participants or to serve as an audience.

“Awesome Activities” begins with a series of magic tricks before
switching to a few science-based projects. “Yummy Things to Make and
Eat” contains the recipes for 10 mostly sweet projects that take no
longer than 30 minutes to make. Nut allergy warnings are provided as
needed, and ingredient quantities are given in both metric and imperial
units. The “Brain Bogglers” section would be quite appropriate for
long car trips, as these activities require mental, not physical,
agility. The last section, “Games, Games, Games,” is a combination
of rambunctious physical activities for two or more players and some
quieter paper-type games. Throughout the book, Becker has scattered
cartoon strips as well as joke-and-silly-facts pages. An “Answers”
page concludes the book. Busy, brightly coloured pages, with cartoonlike
illustrations, guarantee that readers will not be bored by the book’s
layout. Recommended.