Parents' challenge: Keep kids busy during summer

PHOENIX -- As the school year winds down, parents are looking for ways to keep the kids busy this summer.

Social worker Jim Clark, a national speaker on children's mental health, says it's important for children to have something to do when school's out.

"During the summer is a really important time," Clark said. "If parents haven't already planned for it, they really need to plan now because keeping kids active and involved is such a critical part of their growth and development."

Clark notes a new study that says bored children can lead to trouble.

"Kids who were identified as bored were 50 percent more likely to engage in smoking, drug involvement, illicit activities," he said.

To avoid boredom, Clark advised parents and children to make a plan and then get involved with it.

"If you don't know what your child's interest is, then talk to them. That's a great opportunity to do that."

Some summer activities available might be a surprise to parents.

The city of Tempe has a monthly art activity called Free Arts Friday. Home Depot has monthly classes to help kids build something.

One dad has found his own idea for keeping kids busy and is sharing it with other parents.

Greg Murset said his house was "out of control" with six kids that he wanted to do their "chores."

"We tried everything from paper on the refrigerator to everything else. Kids are not into that these days. They like tech."

So he created "my job chart.com."

"A parent would literally create a list of chores that their kid would do in a day," Murset said. "The kid wakes up in the morning, logs in, checks off the jobs as they do them."

Kids earn points they can stash for the future, share with a charity or spend on something they want.

"This is what creates a work ethic in a kid, this is what creates character over time," Murset said.

Murset said he's happy to share his job chart at no cost.

"The end result is just a more responsible, more educated kid. That's our vision, that's our mission."