Boredom as a space to CREATE - IMAGINE - DREAM - TALK

Ways to support boredom - taken from: https://www.theschoolrun.com/benefits-of-boredom-for-kids

If your child is used to having their time micromanaged, making the shift to a way of life where they’re responsible for amusing themselves some of the time can be tricky.

‘It will be difficult at first because they don’t know how to do it, and you’ll have to be their imagination coach, but once the spark has ignited, it will get better,’ Melissa says.

Try these techniques for encouraging children to entertain themselves.

• Have a weekly activity detox. ‘Nominate one day a week where the family has no structured activities, and make it up as you go along,’ says Melissa.

• Give them a creative, open-ended task like building an obstacle course in the garden or setting up a treasure hunt. ‘This will inspire creativity, as they have to decide what the treasure will be, hide it from you, write the clues, and so on,’ says Teresa.

• Provide low-tech toys. If you have the space, collecting things like offcuts of wood and fabric, cotton reels, junk modelling resources and old clothes from the charity shop will give your child endless opportunities for free play. ‘You don’t need to buy an expensive marble run when your child can make an even better one from things you have lying around the house,’ says Teresa.

• Don’t mind the mess. ‘Everything can be cleared away, and you can make it a condition that your child has to help tidy up afterwards,’ Teresa explains.

• Get outdoors. ‘Take your child to open spaces and resist the urge to jump in and protect them,’ Melissa advises. ‘Let them climb on the highest monkey bars, and allow them to take risks.’

• Be a good role model. ‘Wait as long as you can before introducing smartphones and other devices to your child,’ says Teresa, ‘and model healthy attitudes to technology yourself: you can’t insist that your child puts their phone down if you’re always on yours.’

• Create a sense of community. ‘If you live in an area where it’s safe for children to play outside, get a group of parents together who all know to look out for each other’s kids,’ says Melissa. ‘It’s what we were used to in our generation, and it’ll help develop a great sense of belonging for you and your child.’