What to Do When Your Kids Say, “I’m Bored!”
How many times have you heard, “I’m BORED!”? Is it your child’s summer mantra? Are you ready to pull out your hair?
You are not alone.
But what do you do when your kid says, “I’m BORED!”?
There are two schools of thought: tell them to figure it out themselves or pop on the internet and find activities for them.
Contrary to what most kids believe, being bored is not the worst thing in the world. It can:
- Stimulate imagination and creativity
- Teach initiative
- Allow them to recharge
Pretty quickly, kids learn the sentence, “If you’re bored, find something to do, or I’ll find something for you,” actually means, “I’m so glad you’re bored. There are a lot of chores to be done. I appreciate your offer to help.”
When you start assigning the following chores, they may become more adept at finding something to do:
- Clean the toilets, oven, and windows
- Remove hair from shower/tub drain
- Clean baseboards
- Remove pet hair off furniture
- Clean the inside of the fridge
- Vacuum the vehicles
Also, saying, “You’re Bored? I thought your name was Charlie,” is good for a laugh. Some kids may find the humor in it, and others may roll their eyes. (And secretly think it’s funny.)
Instead of solving your kid’s boredom, experts suggest that you:
- Commiserate
- Empathize
- Acknowledge their feelings
- Normalize
- Guide them to a solution
Then have them:
- Make a list of what they’ve been doing
- Make a list of what they’d like to do – can’t think of anything?
- Pinterest is an excellent place to start searching for activities. And it’s surprising how engaged a child can get when faced with so many options
- While they’re on Pinterest, have them look for recipes for dinner, and then they can help you make it – kids are more apt to join you in the kitchen if they have a part in picking the meal
- Start a project with them, but let them finish it
- Ignore them – it sounds harsh but can be quite effective
If you’re in charge of finding the activities to occupy your bored child, here are some ideas to do with younger kids:
- Play with chalk
- Busy bags
- Fun with straws
- Popsicle sticks
- Get creative and use your recycling
- Toilet paper rolls
- Egg cartons
- Keep the cardboard
- Milk cartons
- Aluminum Foil
- Paper Plates
- Create a recycled materials art wall
- Coffee filters are for more than just coffee
- Create butterflies
- Tie-Dye
- And much more
- Bubbles
- Indoor activities
For the Tweens/Teens:
- Check out these excellent ideas for indoor science and engineering activities, math activities, art projects, and active-indoor activities
- Science projects aren’t just for school – make sure to give your approval before your young scientist blows up the kitchen
- For your aspiring actors and actresses
- Make a pinata
- Design their own temporary tattoos then use printable tattoo paper to adhere (usually lasts about three days)
- Fun with Slime – Slime recipes
- Lego activities
- Tie-dye t-shirts, pillowcases, bandanas, sheets, curtains, beach towels
- Minute to Win it Games
Get Outdoors:
- Ride a bike
- Go for a walk or hike
- Play old-school games
- Stargaze – research stars, constellations, the galaxy, and planets beforehand
- Paper airplane race
- Chalk art – design a butterfly and have a photoshoot with the neighbor kids
- Sailboat race – build it, float it, race it
The great thing about imagination is that it is endless. For those “I’m BORED!” moments, encourage creativity and self-directed activities. Eventually, they’ll be finding things to do on their own, and you will no longer hear those dreaded words.
