BOREDOM JAR

How do you respond?  Like most parents you probably try to resolve this quickly-before you forget your email, or get distracted from laundry, cooking dinner, and your call. Smiling at Mr. or Miss Blessing, you share several fabulous and a few mediocre ideas. They all receive some version of:

I did that, That’s Boring,          No.

With each word their voice creeps closer toward a whine. What is a parent to do?  How to keep your cool?

First Things First:   STOP!       Breathe,      3 Long Slow Breathes

What is Boredom?

Boredom is a natural state. Like being excited, sleepy, or hungry. There is nothing inherently bad about the state of Boredom. Children eventually learn to eat when they are hungry, sleep when they are tired, and behave appropriately when they are excited or bored. However, like going to bed at a reasonable time, many need help learning how to respond appropriately when bored.

Hunger inspires us to eat and cook; Food tastes better when we are hunger.  Sleep helps us recover from the days’ stress, allows us to explore our dreams unfettered by rules and roles. Likewise Boredom can inspire us. Boredom breeds creativity, enthusiasm for new projects, creativity, problem solving and an active imagination.

In this age of tablets, smartphones, and over scheduled lives we’ve lost many opportunities to experience Boredom; we’ve lost these opportunities to learn from boredom and be inspired in it. With fewer opportunities to practice it can be more challenging for today’s children to learn appropriate responses to feeling bored.

Children eventually learn to eat when they are hungry, sleep when they are tired, and behave appropriately when they are excited or bored. However, like going to bed at a reasonable time, many benefit from extra support to learn how to respond appropriately when bored.  Small support toward independence means less reliance on parents., and increased resiliency. A Boredom Jar is a tool toward independent resilience.

How to Use a Boredom Jar

When your child is bored and beginning to whine, act out or otherwise ask you to entertain them, it will inevitably be at a time when you need them to entertain themselves. So if you find yourself beginning to list 14 fabulous things they can do.

STOP!      Breathe …and direct them to the Boredom Jar! In the Boredom Jar they blindly pull 1 slip of paper and complete the activity listed – before asking for your help solving their boredom!

A Boredom Jar can be created by a parent, or a parent and child together.  You’ll need a small jar or box, and 10-15 slips of paper. On each slip of paper write down an idea (picture for younger children) of activities for them to do when they are bored.  There are only three rules for the activity ideas:

• Safe to do independently-based on the age & abilities of child
• Varied
• 2-10 minutes to complete.

Include silly ideas such as: Do 5 somersaults; use the wall to stand on your hands. In the mirror: make 8 faces that remind you of an animal-draw these faces/animals. Include Outside: run around the outside of the house 3 times, sit on the ground until you find a bug-draw it.

Include helpful activities: Empty the dishwasher, wipe down the table, pick up an item from the living room floor, and balance it on your head as you put it away. Do this 4 times.

Include creative ideas: choose 5 items from the recycle bin and create an obstacle course for your Lego dude or other action figure, have them run the course 2 times. Using the same materials create 1 more. Turn an empty box into a model of the room you’d like to have.  Draw a picture of 3 things you are Thankful for; write a story about them.

Include a couple treats: Watch 1 five minute video, Build a fort in the living room, Bake cookies, Use painters tape to create a path that includes crawling and stretching.