The Silver Lining of Boredom

At this point in summer vacation, your kids are probably complaining often about being bored. 

As their parents (who likely are not on summer break), it can be challenging to try to come up with ways to keep them entertained. 

There is also a lot of pressure from social media on parents to be finding new, unique, Pinterest-board-worthy activities to fill their kids’ days, and that’s not always a sustainable expectation to have for yourselves.

The truth is, it’s okay for kids to just be bored.

Even though it may seem like things are not going their way, or are less than ideal, and they may be frustrated by this, there are a lot of benefits to kids being bored.

Boredom helps kids develop skills that can become valuable for them. 

One of these skills is tolerance for when things are not exciting or ideal. Another skill is frustration and emotion regulation, because kids will be required to find a solution to their boredom in a way that encourages good behavior.

Some of the other skills that can be learned when kids are at their most bored are confidence, creativity, and curiosity. They have the opportunity to be imaginative, artistic, ponder about their own interests, and learn new things.

Next time your kid says they are bored, use it as a teachable moment. Say, “Let’s see what you can come up with to do!”

It could be helpful to sit with them and discuss things that they find interesting or care about. These interests can be written down as goals or projects that your kids can turn to when they are feeling the monotony of life.

If you have younger kids, it could be helpful to come up with a range of activities that are not overly time consuming, like dress-up, playing sports outside, or art. It might be a good idea to give them choices of activities and tell them they have to pick one.

If you have older kids or teens, they can take on bigger projects that require more time, patience, and responsibility. This could be something like managing a garden, creating/inventing things, building things, or cooking/baking.

If a project or activity does not go as planned, that’s fine! That is just another skill that boredom teaches: not giving up and coming back from failure.

Boredom is definitely not a fun feeling to have. However, just like any unpleasant feeling, it can be a teachable moment for them to utilize coping skills and self-reflect on what they can do to feel better.