I'm outright bored, with nothing do! I know you'll never hear that in your own home!
Ever heard of the book by Peter Spier, Bored, Nothing To Do? It tells us about two brothers who are so bored that their mother brings them outside to spend the afternoon.. While in the garage, they build a plane and fly it. Haven't read the book yet? Then go grab a copy a your local library. It doesn't matter if your 8, 18, 38, you'll still enjoy it. That means I'm going to read it again!
That homemade plane project was hatched out because of boredom. I want to share two solutions to your children's boredom that should have be great for your kids and can provide them with pure summer fun. I hope that you will also share these with your friends at church, at the pool or at the park.
There was an article by our local librarian last fall. She pointed out that if kids get bored it produces creativity. Think it out. If your kids are bored, they will look for something to do on their own. Creativity is necessary to be able to imagine and come up with your own project. The 2 brothers in Spier's book, Remember them? They were so bored and soon sets in creativity to enable them to build & fly an airplane.
Bearing this in mind, you've got to provide an environment that stimulates your kids' minds. It can be as simple as blocks in the attic or more complex like basketwork or building Lego toys. If your children are bored, they'll use those items to become creative in their play. Most of the time, young boys and girls don't like being bored so their imagination kicks in with the right environment.
Letting them overcome boredom with their own projects makes you see your child's real passion and interest.
The second solution is to show your kids where these items are when they don't have anything else to do. If they continually sit in front of the TV, show them the huge box of Legos. When you see your daughter watching movie after movie, remind her where the art supplies are. Pretty simple, isn't it?
Moms can't always come up with ready suggestions when your kids are bored. I have list which I share every summer with my subscribers. Well, its not only for my subscribers, I also take time to browse over it and apply it to brighten up the summer activities for my kids. Here's where you can get a copy of 206 summer fun activities for kids: http://curriculumconnection.net/blog/2007/06/26/bored-nothing-to-do-this-summer/
Once you get your list, print it out for the whole family. You might tape it to the fridge or putcut out each item to put in a cookie jar. Have your kids choose one when they're starting to get bored. This list was just sent to me some years ago and even I'm not sure where it came from. |
