The words that make parents count down the days until the first day of school, “I’m bored!” It never happens at a good time either. Inevitably, you’re making dinner or trying to drink your hot coffee, and your kid hits you with, “Mom, I’m bored.” If your first thought is, “How? Look at all the things you have!” You’re not alone.
Before I share a few ways to navigate summer boredom, I want to take a minute to talk about the benefits of being bored. Yes, you read that right. It has been shown that boredom improves creativity and critical thinking, builds patience, and makes kids more independent. As frustrating as it might be to navigate those moments, once you teach your kids how to direct that boredom, it’s a huge opportunity for their growth. Those are qualities that are valuable as our kids grow up and navigate the world.
You’re probably thinking, “That’s great, but my kid doesn’t have the patience for the 5 seconds it takes to skip a YouTube ad. How do we go from that to going out to eat (the boss level of waiting and being bored for kids) and enjoying the experience? What does this look like? Scaffolding independence and giving them a starting point.
Here are a few ideas for dealing with summer boredom by keeping kids engaged and entertained:
Set up an activity ahead of time.
To buy yourself a little time to have some coffee in the morning, set up an activity. Then they won’t hit you as soon as you open your eyes with, “Ugh, there’s nothing to do.” If you have younger kids, this looks like taking out the Magna-Tiles and setting up a race track for their cars. With slightly older kids, you can put out coloring or a craft. Starting an activity for them makes it easier for kids to engage. Too many options can overwhelm them with decision fatigue, causing them to choose the path of least resistance: asking Mom.
Rotating toys, books, or activities.
This is another lifesaver. Again, too many options create decision fatigue. They will opt for dumping out all the Legos instead of building with them. This just creates a mess and headache for you. Swapping out toys is something you can do every couple of days, once a week, or even every day if you want to. Instead of having all the art supplies accessible all the time, have painting out for a couple of days, then put out markers and stencils. Then switch it for Play-Doh. It’s almost like giving your kids a new toy without actually buying something new. Older kids can go “shopping” for the items they want out for the week, and you could have a system for earning a mid-week toy swap as a behavior reward.
Having a loose routine.
Another thing that can help, particularly over the summer, is creating a loose routine so that they know what to expect. This can look like downtime at the house in the morning and going somewhere in the afternoon after lunch, or vice versa. You can get as specific as you want. Maybe on Tuesdays, we check in at the library for summer reading. On Fridays, you do Fun Friday, where the kids get to pick something new to do.
If you look at boredom as an opportunity instead of an obstacle and teach your kids to do the same, you’ll find you have more engaged and self-sufficient children. Do you have any tips to deal with summer boredom? Let us know in the comments.
