Why Boredom is Good for a Child
How can parents help their children benefit from boredom, and even use it to spark creativity?
This blog will focus on:
Where does boredom stem from?
Boredom isn’t necessarily a bad thing!
What are some strategies to infuse creativity when bored?
Written by: Marissa Holloran, Graduate OT student, Quinnipiac University | November 2024
Boy bored on couch
“Boredom is your imagination calling to you.” Sherry Turkle, Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Doctor of Sociology and Personality Psychology, Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
I believe that kiddos have the best job in the world: to master the art of play! As humans, we have various Activities of Daily Living (ADLs for short) that we take part in on a daily basis. They expand a bit as we grow older, starting with play as a child and then evolving into work. But kids are young and creative and come up with their own ways to play, so why is my child bored and having difficulty imagining? Even though play seems like it should come as second-nature, there might be unexpected challenges that disrupt its occurrence, as occur with any ADL! Some kiddos might need a bit of help to spark that creativity and work through the boredom, and that’s A-OK!
Where Does Boredom Stem From?
Frequent boredom can oftentimes stem from difficulties with ideation and initiation. In other words, coming up with a concept of what to do, and then actually putting the idea into action. Ideation and initiation are skills within the realm of executive functioning, and are skills that aren’t necessarily directly teachable (like cutting with scissors or holding a pencil are). Instead, we can work on these skills with some modeling, prompting, and the “just-right” challenge, as we like to call it.
The Importance of Boredom
Keep in mind that boredom shouldn’t be avoided completely; as important as it is for structured experiences, periods with a lack of structure allow for creativity, exploration, and learning! These skills are important in developing a child’s own inner world, but also in building the foundation for problem-solving later in life.
In today’s media and screen-filled world, there is a constant flow of outside stimulation. Our brains are attracted to the mindless break that technology can provide, allowing other devices to infuse us with entertainment. However, kiddos that experience a constant flow of outside stimulation can become reliant on external sources to fill their brains, therefore limiting the development of their own creativity, inner worlds, and individuality. Providing your kiddo with the opportunity to let their mind be quiet and explore is important, dreaming and letting their imagination run wild. Imagination, drawing connections between objects and ideas, and problem-solving are the building blocks for working through real-life situations.
Strategies to Infuse Creativity
But how do I know where to start, and if I am giving them too much or too little guidance?
By providing the child with too much support and guidance, the child achieves the goal and feels successful, but then they lack the active skills to carry out the task themselves. However, by providing them with not enough support, the child may not have the toolbox of skills or understand how to carry the task out independently. There are many ways in which you can help provide experiences and connections that enable your child to take them and run!
There are many ways to help scaffold, or provide a “just-right challenge”, so your child is successful and encouraged while still turning those brain gears themselves!
If your child is struggling with the ideation or initiation aspect of play, we recommend starting with more support and guidance, and then tapering off as they become more comfortable and experienced with exploring. Here are some strategies:
Get creative - the sillier, the better!
Initiate play schemas with preferred toys, beginning by playing with them alongside your kiddo. Explore the toys with them, describing what you are doing as you do it. We could make these blocks into a house to protect the little piggy from the big bad wolf! OR, we could make them into a maze for the cars to go through! Which should we do?
Taper: Allow them to continue your play schema by prompting them to continue the game while you go do something!
Demonstrate! Verbalize connections to help kiddos to understand relationships - bring forward past experiences to build a child’s understanding of the big world we live in! By modeling how concepts are related in front of them, the easier it is for the child to imitate and then continue to build from connections . Here are some strategies from one of our favorite books, “Smart but Scattered”:
Relate current activities, objects, or topics of convo to a previous experience, verbalize while playing and link two aspects of activity together.
“This reminds me of how we make our favorite cookies” while rolling out Play-Doh
“I’m going to build this tower tall, but I’m being careful to connect all of the pieces so it doesn’t knock over”
“We need a cake with candles if we are going to have a birthday party!”
Linking specific objects with general categories and ask, don’t tell
“Here’s a chair and a table that would fit in your dollhouse, what other toys could we use them to play with?”
“Hmmmm, do you think we should put our pancakes on the stove or in the sink?”
Welcoming boredom and incorporating opportunities for free play into your child’s routine is extremely beneficial in building their imagination, creativity, and problem-solving! If play doesn’t come as easily to your child’s brain, showing them how different toys work and can be used provide them the opportunity for an “Ah-Ha” moment and then continue to grow from there! Parents and caregivers are a child’s biggest role models, and they want to do what you do. Use this to your advantage! Even if you think they aren’t listening, continue to point out those connections and build their map of the world.
Any questions? Please reach out to our experienced team of therapists. Click here to contact us!
Helpful Resources:
“Smart but Scattered” book by Peg Dawson, EdD, and Richard Guare, PhD
https://phillywaldorf.com/blog/boredom-cauldron-creativity
https://www.thesuccessfulparent.com/categories/generalparenting/item/stimulation-junkies