Viva Boredom! Let Your Kids Get Bored
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Bethe Almeras, aka. The Grass Stain Guru, tweeted me today, “I look forward to today’s kids getting bored! They are so over-scheduled & adult-led. Viva boredom! :o”  Thank you, Bethe, for my blog post title because today I want to elaborate on the benefits of boredom and why it should be a summer goal.
Encouraging Boredom
1. No television.
2. No video games either.
That should about do it.
Seriously, no television. Television is the opiate of the masses and it isn’t making any of us, especially our children, any smarter.
I took a fast from television for over a year and it felt great not to fill my head with the gossip, news, or violent story lines –they never contributed to my personal growth as a human being anyway. Television just made me dull, and I got less sleep because I stayed up too late, zoned out.
Now I admit that I’m back on some — in moderation. But, I am an adult, not a child who needs to learn and grow. (Although one could argue that it is like a drug and we all are junkies.) Be that as it may, it’s that much more important that we don’t allow our children to be dulled by the television drug.
I’m telling you, the boredom plan is beneficial! Because if you can tough it out long enough, you’ll see amazing thinking, imagining, and playing happen.
Benefits of Boredom
Why is it that we adults hate being bored? In my case, I’m constantly busy, as if I’m running away from boredom. If I’m not working, then I’m cleaning, checking my to do list, reading a book, working out, I’m squeezing something into every moment — boredom doesn’t enter into my life ever.
But it should. For me and for my kids.
And we don’t just try to prevent our own boredom, we do it for our kids. We provide too many toys, too many options, too many scheduled activities, and when all else fails, we turn on the t.v.
Yesterday, after many days of whining for the television, JJ played in her room independently –for hours. I heard music, singing, dancing. Apparently a fairy kingdom was created, too.
When our kids are bored, wonderful things can happen. Like finding a good book and curling up into a cozy chair to read. Like inventing a magical fairy kingdom on your bed. Like playing Hogwarts and developing new scenes in Harry Potter.
Relearning What to Do When You’re Bored
Make a “What to Do When You’re Bored” list. It probably won’t get used much but it will stop the whining and force your child to think of something even better than what’s on the list. Print out mine or try the Boredom Buster Jar list from Wendy at Kidlutions. And, maybe it will work. Or will be a good starting point.
Sample conversation:
Kid: “I’m bored.”
Parent: “Pick something from the list.”
Kid: “But, I don’t like the list.”
Parent: “So, figure out something else to do.”
Kid walks off, furiously thinking how parents just don’t understand.
. . .
If we can get our kids to be bored, surely we can find some time to be bored ourselves. Wouldn’t that be lovely?
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I think that not constantly entertaining my toddler is what has helped her to learn to play by herself. If she wants me to play with her, I do, but there are times where she just wanders around the living room until she finds what captures her interest. These are the times that she plays the longest and seems to have the most fun. I also think that it helps that we severely limit television for her. She isn’t used to the magic entertainment box doing all the work for her, she is used to working to entertain herself.
that sounds fabulous – thanks for sharing, Natalie!
Lovely post! Just in time to allow full enjoyment of playing, hangin’ and just ‘being’ during summer. I will be making a few reminder ‘notes to self’ to enjoy this too!
I am going to try to allow my kids to be bored without having it drive me crazy as in “I’m bored” incessant complaining. I would love it if they would just stomp off, usually they hang around me while I’m trying to get stuff done to complain. The jar of ideas is a great idea. Maybe I can combine with your previous idea for chores and give them $ for doing stuff in jar. You are a genius!
hardly, but thanks. I grew up without television and lived in a world of imagination and books so I hope that my kids will have the same opportunities to thrive in imaginary worlds as me. Maybe you have a consequence for pestering like room time? I don’t know, just a suggestion.
So true, so true…boredom lets to many exciting things in our lives that are often overlooked. I remind my parents at Back to School not that overscheduling kids does not always make their lives enriched. It often leads to burnt-out kids! Sometimes I take my class outside to just look at the clouds. When questioned by an administrator about this, I simply replied that we were preplanning our writing lesson for that day by looking at the world and using our imagination! The kids I teach never do this and I had to build some background knowledge for them. Now when asked what they would like for a reward for an important accomplishment they ask to go look at the clouds!
you’re such a great teacher, Robin! I love the cloud watching idea.
Well done, Soup-ers! The “wealth” of available electromechanical distractions is like some sort of mind-numbing drug. We’re in the midst of raising generations that will only know how to watch, but never create what they’re watching. It’s an up-hill battle. Near vertical, if you ask me. I miss my wood blocks. I really do.
and legos that didn’t come in sets with directions. . . I miss that.
Thanks for the comment, Hank. 🙂