Boredom Busters For Kids

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Are your kids telling you that they’re bored? Chances are, if you have a pre-teen, you hear that more often than you want to. Many experts claim that most children say they're bored because they’re being lazy and trying to engage with their parents - not because of parenting shortcomings or that they don’t have things to do.

Stimulation and interest are also considered common connections to self-proclaimed boredom. Again, it doesn’t mean your child doesn’t have fun things they could do, it’s more like they need your help to connect and engage their attention. 

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Here’s 10 ultimate boredom busters next time it rears its head in your house:

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1. Encourage your child to get creative. Creativity can be in the form of many activities. For example, you may show them how to create a gratitude board, give them art materials or put on a play.

2. Let them draw on your external walls and floors with chalk. Many children may create their games, or you could teach them games such as hopscotch and tic tac toe. The rain or water will erase any trace of activity, allowing a blank canvas for next time.

3. If your child is able, get them to prepare their lunch. Depending on their skills, they can chop, dice and cook their food. Children can be more capable than we sometimes give them credit for and love to be involved in the cooking process.

4. On social media, there are groups involved in decorating rocks and hiding them for others to discover. Ask your child if they would like to find and decorate rocks; they can also decide where to hide them.

5. If space allows, your child can plan a dance party. They can create a playlist in advance and plan what they would like to dance to. They can then call their friends to come to enjoy some time singing and dancing. A bonus is all the energy they will burn off!

6. Give them responsibility: Your child can help you with chores or help to fix things.

For example, they could fix broken toys or see how they work. If toys are old and no longer wanted, they could take them apart and look at the different parts.

You may need to sit with your child while they do this, but you can have great discussions about how things work and how elements work together.  

7. Provide your child with different materials to create an art project. For example, clean recycling items can become makeshift cars or a puppet theatre or go for a woodland walk and collect items to make their woodland scene.

8. Give your child an empty book and plenty of pens. It can become a journal, storybook or even a place to imagine what their life will be like when they grow up. 

9. Read with your child. The benefits of reading together are significant and can be a great way to introduce your child to the literary world.

Another alternative is listening to an audiobook. This frees up your time but still allows your child to use their imagination and reap the rewards of reading. The beautiful thing about reading is a never-ending supply of new and wonderful texts to engage in.

10. Make a boredom jar or box. In this box, you can put different activities, art and craft supplies, suggestions for games and things to do such as:
- Playing card games
- Colouring pages
- Yoga
- Bug hunts
- Planting seeds
- Recipes for baking
- Create playlists for films/music
- Stationary to write letters to family members