‘A child should be bored more often’

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Going to school, the sports club, playing with friends or sitting on a screen: children today are very busy. Boredom is almost non-existent in their dictionary and mother and blogger Kristen Mae is concerned about that.

“A child should be bored more often, because that is good for his development,” she writes in her blog.

Unplanned time

Today, many families’ schedules are so packed that a child has something to do at any time of the day. And if that is not the case, then boredom immediately sets in. Kristen: ‘Children almost no longer know how to deal with a piece of unplanned time. They are barely able to come up with something themselves that they can then do.’

more creative

Boredom, according to Kristen, leads to creativity. ‘I saw that with my own daughter,’ she says, ‘who was bored one day and spontaneously started drawing a comic.’ You can of course put your child at the kitchen table with some craft supplies, but it is wiser as a parent not to take the reins, she thinks. ‘If children have to come up with something themselves, they might go outside to collect things from nature. Or they use the garage as a playground instead of the kitchen table. They get more creative when they have to entertain themselves.’

Also read: ‘Enjoy my child? He does that himself

To wait

Kirsten compares the boredom of today with the past. “When I was young, I was used to waiting. In a restaurant, in line at the cinema, on a girlfriend… I was forced to enjoy myself or chat with someone because there were no devices to keep me busy.’ She understands that we now live in a time when screens are indispensable for children. ‘And yet it would be good if a child were to learn to just wait – do nothing for a while. My solution is simple: on weekends, my children between 11 and 4 have no access to the internet. They are then forced to enjoy themselves. Guess what? Those are the most creative hours of the whole week.’

Source: Scary Mommy