Sometime around summer’s halfway point, both parents and kids may start to get a bit antsy. Maybe camp is over, or ALL the activities have been exhausted. “What are we doing today?” and “I’m bored” are some familiar phrases heard in households all over the county.
So how do we try to combat this and not lose our minds? It’s simple – let your kids be bored.
Hear me out. If you feel like you’ve been trying to be the captain of the fun ship all summer, perhaps today is the day to retire. I’m not saying let the kids wallow around for the rest of the summer.
Let them learn some valuable life skills on how to entertain themselves and accept that not every minute of every day will be a fun-filled party.
Kids need time to figure out how to overcome challenges like being “bored.” They can come up with solutions as to how to combat boredom in a variety of ways and may even surprise themselves.
According to Jodi Mustoff, MA MEd, an educational specialist at the Child Mind Institute, “Boredom also helps children develop planning strategies, problem-solving skills, flexibility, and organizational skills – key abilities that children whose lives are usually highly structured may lack.”
Hopefully, the boredom will spark some creativity in kids – allowing them the free space to create fun for themselves, whether tackling summer reading, doing a craft, writing a story, or choreographing a dance.
There’s a huge array of possibilities for kids to come up with some great activities if they’re given the space and independence to do so.
Perhaps set aside an hour or two per day for the kids to be on their own, creating their own entertainment. My husband and I often refer to this as “quiet alone time.” This does not mean kids have to be silent; it just means this is their personal time in their own space to do what they like. And who knows, they may even surprise you and themselves with some amazing things they come up with during their time!
