Children are significantly more prone to boredom than adults. This is because the prefrontal cortex of the brain has not fully matured. Children will continue to feel bored no matter how many creative activities they organize. Therefore, both you and your child should “lean in” to the boredom.
Boredom has to do with perception.
Perception of a situation directly impacts how a person feels about it. For example, boredom is felt more acutely when a person is feeling confined. For example, this sensation may be triggered by a situation being unenjoyable, uninteresting, or even unimportant on a personal level (Kubota, 2016).
Boredom leads to creativity.
There is a link between boredom and creativity. Boredom pushes people to think outside the box and seek out something new. In today’s world, children have a great deal of structure and access to entertainment and they can quickly transition to activities when they start feeling restless. Provide your child the opportunity to be inspired by allowing them to sit with the boredom.
Many ways to “cure” boredom.
Technology is very useful but, unfortunately, it is not “the likeliest boredom cure.” (Kubota, 2016). Experiment with these activities to find your child’s boredom “cure”:
Discuss the “potential usefulness, relevance or meaningfulness of an activity.” This will increase the value of the activity while decreasing boredom. (Kubota, 2016).
Encourage daydreaming and watch the creativity flow!
Practice mindfulness with your child. Many apps can help with this. Calm, in particular, has a section dedicated to mindfulness for kids.
Brainstorm doing old things in new ways or come up with a new game.
Get up and move. Encourage your child to do physical activities like jumping jacks or taking a run around the block.
Break out the art supplies and have your child doodle, paint, color, or craft.
Encourage your child to write a story about their boredom.
Taylor Kubota (2016). The Science of Boredom. Retrieved (03/29/2020), from https://www.livescience.com/56162-science-of-boredom.html