Healthy Kids • YMCA Camps and Outdoor Education • YMCA Child Care
Is it OK for kids to be bored?
03 June 2016 - by Cheryl - YMCA Child Care
“I’m soooo bored!” This phrase is heard often in households with school-age children.
Parents often get anxious and try to solve this problem by bringing out the tech gadgets to keep kids entertained or signing them up for more extracurricular activities. But this responsiveness is actually counter-productive.
High levels of constant activity and busyness can pose a great risk to their cognitive and personal development. Children need unstructured time and down time to rest, to reflect and to grow.
It’s through boredom that children learn how to manage their time and decide what to do during their free time.
It Boosts Their Creativity - Creativity thrives when the mind is given a break from external stimulations. Boredom has a way of boosting a child's imagination because it rejuvenates and refreshes his or her mind and enables the child to see and interpret things in a different way.
Helps Them Have Fun Their Own Way - When we adults introduce our children to technology, their own games, or whatever it is we do to entertain the children, we prevent them from self-directed play. However, when you allow your kids to get bored, they’re forced to take the initiative and use what they have on hand to have fun. Boredom gives children a chance to invent and discover their own methods of fun. Unstructured play time is essential for learning and personal development.
It Helps Them Discover Their Passions and Talents - Boredom allows kids to be left with their own thoughts and gives them the opportunity to explore their interests at a pace their comfortable with. Building a fort out of cardboard boxes, creating their own comic strip or daydreaming about the future – this down time gives them a sense of “what could be” and not just “what is”.
Need some inspiration for kid-friendly activities that your children might be able to do on their own? Check out our Kids Activities Pinterest Board.
Parents often get anxious and try to solve this problem by bringing out the tech gadgets to keep kids entertained or signing them up for more extracurricular activities. But this responsiveness is actually counter-productive.
Why do children need unstructured time or down time?
High levels of constant activity and busyness can pose a great risk to their cognitive and personal development. Children need unstructured time and down time to rest, to reflect and to grow.
It’s through boredom that children learn how to manage their time and decide what to do during their free time.
Why we should let our kids get bored
It Boosts Their Creativity - Creativity thrives when the mind is given a break from external stimulations. Boredom has a way of boosting a child's imagination because it rejuvenates and refreshes his or her mind and enables the child to see and interpret things in a different way.
Helps Them Have Fun Their Own Way - When we adults introduce our children to technology, their own games, or whatever it is we do to entertain the children, we prevent them from self-directed play. However, when you allow your kids to get bored, they’re forced to take the initiative and use what they have on hand to have fun. Boredom gives children a chance to invent and discover their own methods of fun. Unstructured play time is essential for learning and personal development.
It Helps Them Discover Their Passions and Talents - Boredom allows kids to be left with their own thoughts and gives them the opportunity to explore their interests at a pace their comfortable with. Building a fort out of cardboard boxes, creating their own comic strip or daydreaming about the future – this down time gives them a sense of “what could be” and not just “what is”.
Need some inspiration for kid-friendly activities that your children might be able to do on their own? Check out our Kids Activities Pinterest Board.
