Have you heard your child say, “Mom, I’m so bored. When are we going to do something fun?” Well, I have. Now that we’ve hit the middle of summer, the excitement of the season is starting to wane, and it’s getting more and more challenging to stimulate my boys.
But every time I think that I’m not stimulating them enough, I consider my own childhood. When I was little, my sister and I entertained ourselves at home the entire summer. I only remember going to camp a couple of times. We did spend a lot of time at Myrtle Beach because we had a small place at Ocean Lakes Campground, but even there, my sister and I would come up with all sorts of things to do.
This summer, our six-year old is going to a day camp at his elementary school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and our three-year old goes to his preschool Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8a.m.-12p.m., but other than that the boys are with me, and I try hard to keep them busy, but I decided the other day that maybe I was trying too hard.
One day last week, I had no planned activities and my little one chose not to take a nap, so the two boys were at home all day. After a while, they became annoyed with one another and started bickering. I finally split them up and made them stay in their rooms and find something to do. At first, they were huffy with me, but after about 20 minutes, it got really quiet in both of their rooms.
I peaked my head in and our three-year old had pulled out an old tub full of toys that he’d forgotten about. He spent an hour or more playing with these “new toys”. When I peaked my head into our six-year old’s room, he was working on his own version of “Oh, The Places You’ll Go.” I posted a picture of his book on Instagram.
As you can see in the photo, a good friend of mine cited a study she’d read stating that kids need boredom for a variety of reasons. First off, what exactly is ‘boredom’? According to definition, it is a temporary state that involves a lack of stimulation and the associated negative feelings. I investigated the theory a little further, found numerous of studies and research that support the following information.
Three Top Reasons Kids Need Boredom
1. Fosters creativity/imagination: Along with boredom comes reflection and quiet time which stretches the brain and fosters children to be creative and imaginative. When nothing is doing the thinking for them (TV, computers, etc.) their own brains can be extraordinarily creative.
2. Enhances problem-solving skills.When children don’t have an adult or a gadget to do things for them, they figure out how to do it themselves. This enhances their problem-solving skills. When children are bored outside or inside, their brains have time and space to work through issues and problems, whether they be big or small.
3. Strengthens motivational skills: If parents take away all stimulation and schedule in quiet/down time, children are essentially forced to get motivated and find something to do. Further, boredom is an uncomfortable feeling, so when children are feeling this way, they are naturally motivated to entertain themselves in order to overcome the feeling. The act of conquering a negative feeling all on their own is intrinsically rewarding for them.
In today’s world, it’s so easy to overstimulate our children. With tech gadgets all over the house, a million extra-curricular activities going on and play dates being all the rage, it’s so easy to schedule too much into a child’s day. We could actually be suppressing very important cognitive skills from developing.
It’s extremely important that we as parents schedule time throughout the day where children are bored and have nothing exciting to do. At first, your children may buck up against you because they’re so accustomed to being busy, but don’t give in. The next time your kiddos complain about being bored, secretly smile and know that you’re doing them a great favor.