We've Been Thinking of Boredom All Wrong

Does the word “bored” strike fear in you, especially if it involves your kids being bored? As a mom, we think of all the mischief, chaos, or mess that might arise from boredom. So we do everything we can to keep our kids occupied with toys, screens, play dates, or extracurricular activities, but did you know that periods of boredom lead to a healthy childhood?

Benefits of Being Bored

1.       Boredom encourages imagination and creativity. When children are left to entertain themselves it leads to discovery, curiosity, and helps them explore new passions. Think about all the imaginative stories you concocted when you were bored as a child—those were probably the best memories you have!

2.       Boredom teaches resilience.  Children who never experience failure have a difficult time dealing with it when it arises, but having free time to try things out without the fear of failure helps a child develop resilience and not be put off when things get tough.

3.       Boredom develops problem-solving skills. Today’s kids are constantly stimulated by technology, extracurricular activities, or just being on the go so they can feel uncomfortable if they don’t have anything to do, but this will encourage them to solve their own problem and find something to entertain themselves.

4.       Boredom helps children develop relationships. If a child is given time and space with nothing to distract them, like a screen (CLICK HERE to read the 3 signs toddlers are addicted to screens), then they are able to form bonds with people around them by making eye contact, communicating, and reading body language. These things can only be learned through interacting with other people.

5.       Boredom builds confidence. When a child has the opportunity to entertain themselves, and does it successfully, it boosts their self-esteem. They can try new things or take risks that build their confidence as well.

6.       Boredom improves mental health. It’s healthy to allow our children’s and our own minds time to just wander and not be focused on a particular task.

Ways to Encourage Making the Best of Boredom

If your toddler or preschooler is used to grabbing a tablet or ipad when they are bored, making the shift to themselves entertaining themselves when they are bored is going to be tricky, but you can do it! They are not going to know how to find ways to combat boredom, so you are going to have to be their imagination coach at first. But once the spark gets ignited the possibilities are endless.

Try these techniques to encourage your child to entertain themselves:

1.       Be a good role model. If you insist that your child puts their phone/tablet/ipad away, then you need to do the same. They watch our every move and want to be like us, so we need to be a good example.

2.       Have a weekly detox. Designate one or two nights a week for no extracurricular activities or screens (TV, ipads, or tablets). Instead, read books together, build blocks, or have free-play.

3.       Give your child a creative, open-ended task. Instruct them to build an obstacle course, or create a treasure hunt for you, or design a reading fort.

4.       Get outdoors. Let your child explore the backyard or park. Let them take risks, like climbing a tree, going down the tallest slide, or getting dirty.

5.       Don’t mind the mess. Things can be cleaned up. Make your toddler or preschooler responsible for helping clean up after they play.

The road to boredom will take some extra support and creativity from you to help get the ball rolling on developing your preschooler’s imagination, but they will get the hang of it. To distract myself from boredom when I was little, I used to pretend to be a mommy—I would dress my babies up, name them, cook them food, and change their diapers. All of the mommy things! What was your favorite toy to play with, game to play, fantasy to create, or thing to do when you got bored as a child?