Dealing with "I'm bored"?

[NineJaded]

Just that really. Imagine lots of parents are in a similar boat right now with school holidays. My 7yo is home educated so being at home rather than school is normal for her but we take a break over the summer (and her normal groups don't run either) so I am still getting a lot of "I'm bored" and "what can I do now". I cannot give her attention 24/7 - I have my own stuff to do as always, and besides I think she needs to be bored sometimes to get her using her imagination and playing. I don't mind a bit of TV/screen time but I don't want it to be her default when she's bored.

What do you say when your kids tell you they are bored?

"Find something to do then"

She is very very very literal so if I tell her to go and find something to do I get "but I don't know what to do" and the conversation goes round and round in circles 😅

Only boring people are bored

heres a duster, please dust all down stairs

Give her a chore! How old is she?

I gave mine sketchbook, art pencils and pastel chalks. She is now learning to draw from YouTube kid

7! And she has ample toys, games, books, art supplies, a garden to play in....

Definitely a fan of offering chores that need doing in response to 'I'm bored'.

YouTube kids video

Defo going to do the chores thing, that's genius.

If she’s literal, give her a list. Things like ‘draw a picture’ ‘listen to a story on audible’
‘tidy dolls house’ ‘brush hair’

she can do it in any order she likes but she should aim to work through the list. She can tick it off or put a big star next to it. Possibly a reward for working through the entire list by the end of the day. Put plenty on it so it doesn’t go too quickly.

It’s fine to be bored. Nothing to panic about.

Just show them where the hoover is.

Definitely give her a chore and if she moans say “well go and find something else to do”. Or give her a choice of two activities, “you can draw or play with the play-doh” and if she moans say “those are your choices” and walk away/carry on with what you’re doing. Children should be bored sometimes….it sparks their creativity! (Maybe just check she’s not drawing on the walls though 😉)

I have an on going rainy day box for the winter I keep adding to. Old McDonald toys, bits and pieces I sneak away at Christmas when they are overwhelmed. I save them for dreary days when I'm not feeling motivated. Could you quietly do that? Meanwhile ask her to make up a jar of lucky dip suggestions? Bake a (packet mix) cake type thing.

I think you need a balance of letting them feel bored and use their imagination, but also sometimes helping them find things to do. I remember that feeling of immense boredom in the summer holidays as a child which felt like an eternity. Could you maybe help her to arrange a playdate/ sleepover with a friend? Are there any local kids clubs she could get involved in?

Quiet times and independent learning are important, but kids do need things to do as well. My mum was very much in the 'kids need to be bored' camp and never did anything with us over the Summer - I remember feeling quite isolated sometimes with so little adult input - balance is important.

”I’m not your entertainments manager.”

I do absolutely loads with her, I'm referring to the odd hour here and there, not entire days.

My mum used to say “only boring people are bored” 🤣

if my 6 year old says she’s bored, I say why don’t you do some colouring or find some of your toys to play with or if you don’t want to do that, you can clean the house for £1!

And does that make them be quiet? Never in my experience. They roll their eyes at you and continue following you round the house, “no, I want something fun to do, what should I do, I’m BORED”
”Read a book, do some drawing, do a jigsaw puzzle / that kit you got for your birthday”
”No I want to play with Bestfriend. “Sorry, Bestfriend is on holiday, I can’t do anything about that.”
“But I don’t know what to doooo…”
etc etc.
Might try and get them to wash the car later though, that would be a novelty and probably involve getting soaking wet.

We also home educate, and my 6-year-old is big on telling me she's bored at the moment (it's most annoying when she's supposed to be going to sleep).

I usually just say "that's nice" and she stomps off in a huff to find something to do.

I'm going to try the chores thing next time. She'll probably be delighted - her current life plan is to be a cleaner since our cleaner is her favourite person in the world.

When mine utter the word bored I tell them to tidy their hovels bedrooms. It's amazing how quickly they can find something to do.

I had this only holiday recently from tweens, which was harder as I didn’t have any chores to do. And anyway I Sialkot the the huffy response to chores as above.

move got mine earning points for some activities which they can trade for time on drivel (YouTube/Robolox) so their brains don’t completely melt.

This describes my life!

7yr olds don't like doing stuff by themselves ime so you need to take turns with other parents and have friends round for the afternoon frequently throughout the hols unless you've got plans. They just don't go and play alone at that age.

She does play alone actually, ordinarily she's quite good at it. It's something about being off routine, it sends her out of kilter.