Letting Kids Be Bored Can Be Constructive

Boredom can often be looked at as a negative thing for your children to experience. You may feel the need to always entertain them, but that can quickly become exhausting. Teaching your children ways they can entertain themselves when they are bored and create problem-solving skills to help them when they get bored can be incredibly beneficial to their growth and development.  Stephanie Lee, PsyD, director of the ADHD and Behavior Disorders Center at the Child Mind Institute, says that letting children be bored can develop valuable skills such as managing their frustrations and regulating their emotions when things feel less-than-ideal to them. 

Boredom can push children to seek new goals, territories and ideas rather than stay in repetitive cycles or turn to the reward-centric area of their mind. So, how can you teach your children how to solve their boredom issues, and what are all of the benefits of boredom?

Boredom sparks creativity.

When your kids feel bored, instead of getting frustrated or trying to always distract them yourself, let them take time to find a way to entertain themselves! Boredom usually sparks creativity through play. Most kids like to pretend-play, or engage in other activities that use the creative mind like art. It also allows them to make their own decisions on what they like and don’t like. If you are constantly choosing what they do, they won’t get to experience their individuality and freedom in making their own choices. 

Boredom helps navigate feelings of discomfort.

Feeling bored is something most people feel discomfort in. Boredom usually gives way to other emotions such as frustration, annoyance, sadness or anger. When your kids feel bored, it is important to help them acknowledge what they are feeling and why they feel that way. As a parent, you can help your child become aware of their feelings of boredom and ask them what they can do to fix those feelings. 

Boredom can help your children identify activities they enjoy.

To prevent feelings of boredom, it may be beneficial to sit down with your child and create a list of things they like to do and activities they enjoy. You can also create long-term projects or fun challenges they would enjoy. You can also incorporate them into creating a daily schedule for both of you. Allowing them to be a part of planning their routine can help reduce open-ended time that can lead to excessive boredom. 

Embrace failure.

Inevitably, activities won’t go as planned and your child may become more frustrated or not want to entertain themselves. Embrace the failure! This can aid in learning perseverance and grit, and help to find ways in teaching how to find the positives from unfortunate situations. 

Finding ways to balance a planned routine while also allowing your child free time to find out what they want to do on their own is something that can be tough to navigate but can be very beneficial in parenting. If you are searching for help in figuring out this balance, we offer parent coaching at Arcadian Therapy!