Every parent has heard the dreaded phrase “I’m bored” at least once in a while. It is not unusual for kids to get bored when they are away from school. The key is to deal with boredom with understanding and creativity. Here are some tips you can use with your child.
- Invite your Kinderpillar child to explain what it means to be “bored”. Often children have heard the term but are not quite sure what it means. Encourage your child to describe how “bored’ feels, what color it is, how big is it! This fun game helps your child to think about and describe how he feels. And at the same time you will be inviting him to explore the concept with a sense of fun and creative thinking!
- Add some creative challenges. Often children who say they are bored are not challenged enough. While repetition at a young age is good for learning skills, children also need to be challenged to try things in new ways or look at things differently. Take a simple finger painting activity. Change the surface your child is painting on from paper to a tray, to cardboard to tile. How is finger painting different? You can change the paint too! Add little bits of texture (sand, sawdust, dry lentils) to the finger paint to see how the painting experience changes.
- Change the pace. If your weekend days get too predictable they can seem dull or boring. Change the time for dinner or lunch. Take the meal outside. Do something surprising such as having lunch for breakfast and breakfast for lunch. Research shows that these surprises actually stimulate new synaptic connections in the brain.
- Take a walk. Sometimes a “change in venue” is all that needed to spark things up again. Take a walk to look for birds, numbers, or letters. Or take a silent walk together, pointing out discoveries without talking.
- Read Books. There is nothing like a good story to keep your child interested and engaged. Invite him to add sound effects or repeat certain words and phrases from the story. This will keep him involved and interested.
(Article written by Ellen Booth Church)
