Summer camps and family vacations are over, and school doesn't start for another two weeks. Our kids can relax. Kick back. Veg out. But it doesn't take long for relaxation to become boredom, and boredom to become "Mom, can I watch TV ... again?" Here are simple ways to engage your kids in creative, productive activities -- and remind them that there's more to life than SpongeBob.

Make Something

There's a surge of self-esteem that comes from creating something -- and your kids can make fun projects out of things you already have around the house. Consider it recycling in the name of art!

1. Coffee filters are great for soaking up ink. Let your kids draw on them with markers, then take them outside, spritz them with a water bottle and watch the colors bleed. When it dries, they can hang it on a window as a "suncatcher" or twist a pipe cleaner into the center and turn it into a flower.

2. Snip a cardboard paper towel or toilet paper tube into 2-inch circles and have your kids decorate them as napkin rings -- then ask them to set the table for dinner. Or let them decorate an empty coffee can with a plastic lid and use it as a drum.

3. Mix up your own bubble solution using 2 tablespoons of dish soap and a cup of water. Take one of the green plastic baskets that strawberries come in and dip it in the solution to make lots of tiny bubbles. (For more recycled craft ideas, see this page.)

Move Something

When school's out, it's easy for kids to morph into flip flop-wearing sloths before your very eyes. Keep them moving with fun tasks.

4. Send them on a scavenger hunt for things found in nature: a seed, a weed, a bug, a yellow flower petal, a stick longer than their hand. Have older kids hide something for you to find, and to draw a treasure map or create a series of clues to lead you there.

5. Let the kids set up a tent in the backyard — or even in the living room. It's good exercise and they'll want to play in it when they're done.

6. Too hot to move? Time for the kids to give Fido a bath. It'll cool them all off, and save you a bundle at the groomer!

(For more ideas on keeping kids active, see Kaboose.)

Give Something Back

7. Your child can say "I care!" just by drawing a picture and sending it to Art2Heart, a nonprofit that sends drawings to kids in underprivileged countries like Guatemala, Korea and India. The best part: The child who receives it will send your child a drawing, too!

8. Ask junior to sort through your DVD collection and send any unwanted movies to Kidflicks.org, a group that donates used DVDs to the pediatric wards of hundreds of hospitals throughout the country.

(For more ideas on giving back, check out the Acme Sharing Co.)