Pawsitive School Counselor

Wrap up the school year with a fun, creative lesson that helps students beat summertime boredom and spark their imagination!

Beat Summer Boredom with a Potato and a Great Book! 🥔📚

As summer approaches, one of my favorite go-to stories to share with students is I’m Bored by Michael Ian Black. If you’re a parent, you’ve likely heard the phrase “I’m bored!” more times than you can count—especially on rainy days or when screen time is off-limits.

This book is a fun, imaginative way to remind kids that boredom can lead to creativity. I team taught this lesson with my librarian, so talk to yours about this super fun collaboration.

And yes… this lesson involves giving away potatoes!

Here’s how our lesson unfolded:
 

1. Read Aloud with a Twist

We read I’m Bored as a Reader’s Theatre, letting students take on character roles. It made the story come alive and kept everyone engaged!

2. The Great Potato Challenge

Students were paired or grouped, and each team received a real potato. Their challenge? Brainstorm as many creative things as possible to do with a potato—no limits, no wrong answers. The more imaginative, the better!

3. Chart It Out

As students shared their ideas, we created a class chart. You’d be amazed by how inventive kids can be when given something as simple as a potato.

4. The Potato Prize

To reinforce good behavior and participation, the student who demonstrated the best classroom behavior got to take home their team’s potato and the chart of ideas. (Yes, they were genuinely excited to take a potato home—go figure!)

5. Follow-Up Fun

For extra engagement, I asked students to bring back their potato the next day or week and share what they actually did with it. The stories were hilarious, heartwarming, and totally worth it.

Find the book here.

Get a free book companion here.

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