The older Charlie gets the more I find myself reflecting on when he was little. One phrase I think all children repeat at least 10 times a day is “I’m bored.” No, matter how many toys they have in there rooms this is ingrained in our kids.

If you’ve been a parent for very long, you probably know those two words by heart. I certainly do. The funny part is now that Charlie is almost grown he still utters those words more times than I can count.

I thought I would share information from when Suzanne and Charlie were little, there were plenty of days when we unexpectedly found ourselves home from school. Sometimes it was a school break, sometimes an unexpected day off, and sometimes it was simply a weekend when we didn’t have anywhere we needed to be.

And it didn’t take long before I heard it. “I’m bored.” A few minutes later: “I’m bored.” And if they had siblings who had been together long enough, I’m pretty sure there would have been some bickering mixed in with the boredom, too.

That’s one reason I started thinking about all the ways we could keep children busy without automatically turning on the television or handing them a screen. Not because screens are bad.

Not because children should never be bored. And certainly not because Mom needs to become a full-time entertainment director. Sometimes children simply need an idea. One that will last longer than 5 minutes.

Summer may be over and school back in session but it is the perfect time to begin this collection because children will be home during days off from school and upcoming Holidays.

But I don’t want this to be another summer list that disappears when school starts. I’m building this as an evergreen collection of screen-free ideas that parents can use all year long.

Because children aren’t only bored in June and July.

They can be bored on:

• weekends
• rainy afternoons
• teacher workdays
• unexpected school closings
• holiday breaks
• Thanksgiving vacation
• Christmas vacation
• snow days
• long afternoons at home
• road trips
• waiting for appointments
• family visits

And sometimes Mom and Dad simply want everybody to put the electronics down for a while. That’s where this collection comes in.

One thing I remember from when Suzzane and Charlie were little I think we sometimes put too much pressure on ourselves as parents. Parents may think they need a Pinterest-worthy activity planned for every hour of the day.

You don’t. Children need downtime. They need opportunities to use their imagination. They need opportunities to figure out what to do when nobody is telling them what comes next.

Being bored isn’t an emergency. In fact, some pretty wonderful ideas can come from boredom. But as a parent, it sure is nice to have a few ideas in your back pocket for those moments when the boredom has gone on long enough and everybody is starting to get on everybody else’s nerves.

Before you spend money on something new, look around your house. You may already have everything you need. Pull out a board game that hasn’t been played in months. Get out the coloring books.

Build something with blocks before you say we don’t have blocks use boxes you have sitting around. Work on a puzzle. If you don’t have puzzles make one. Give the children paper and pencils and let them draw.

Make homemade cards for friends and family. Build a blanket fort. Have a family card game. Turn an empty box into something completely different. Sometimes the best activity isn’t something new. It’s something old that has been forgotten.

One of my favorite ideas for an evergreen resource like this is a simple Boredom Box I used to keep for Suzzane and Charlie. We had one inside and outside and I even had one I kept in the car and each one had different items in it.

You can use a basket, plastic container, shoebox, or anything you already have. Fill it with activities that children can choose from when they don’t know what to do.

You might include:

• coloring pages
• crayons
• pencils
• stickers
• activity books
• puzzles
• playing cards
• paper
• simple craft supplies
• age-appropriate games
• joke books
• word searches
• small building activities

You don’t have to put everything in there at once. You can rotate the contents. That way, something that hasn’t been seen for a few weeks suddenly feels new again.

If your children are like Charlie they don’t need an activity handed to them. They need a challenge.

Try asking:

Can you find five things in the house that begin with the letter B? How many animals can you name in one minute? Can you draw a picture using only three colors? Can you build the tallest tower you can? Can you make up a story using these three objects? Can you find something in the house you’ve forgotten about?

The possibilities are endless. And many of them cost absolutely nothing.

Here’s something else I learned as a mom: Helping counts as something to do.

Children can help make lunch. They can help bake. They can wash vegetables. They can sort laundry. They can organize books. They can help clean up the yard. They can help wash the car. They can help decorate for a holiday. They can help prepare something for a family gathering.

Remember, what a child can safely do depends on their age and abilities. But children don’t always need us to create entertainment for them. Sometimes they need us to invite them into what we’re already doing. And somewhere along the way, they’re learning life skills, too. That’s a pretty good trade for a little boredom.

One thing I wanted to remind you is not every screen-free activity needs to be loud. Sometimes the best activity is a quiet one. Choose a book. Read together. If you have siblings let the older children read to younger children.

Have everyone read for a set amount of time. In my Reading Challenge I ask you to read for 10 minutes a day. Start a family read-aloud. Visit your local library. Or simply let a child choose a book and curl up somewhere comfortable. There is something special about watching a child disappear into a book.

When the weather cooperates, send the boredom outdoors. Go for a walk. If you have Pets take them with you. Look for interesting leaves. Watch the clouds. Draw with sidewalk chalk.

Play catch. Plant something. Have a scavenger hunt. Look for birds. Sit on the porch and tell stories. You don’t need a backyard full of expensive equipment. Sometimes children just need permission to go outside and explore.

And on thing I always had trouble with was knowing its okay for the kids to be bored. This may be the hardest one for parents. We don’t have to solve boredom immediately. Do you have this problem?

There were plenty of times when Suzanne and Charlie told me they were bored, and eventually I had to tell them:

“Then find something to do.”

Because Mom can’t always be the activity coordinator. Children can learn to make their own fun. They can create. They can read. They can build. They can imagine. They can play. They can figure it out. And sometimes the thing they eventually come up with is much more interesting than anything Mom could have planned.

One thing I wanted to share with you is every child is different, and an activity that works beautifully for one child may not be appropriate for another. Never try and force what one child likes on another child.

Please use your own judgment when choosing activities for your children. Consider their age, developmental level, individual abilities, interests, and maturity, and provide appropriate adult supervision when an activity requires it.

Some activities may need to be modified for younger children or children with different abilities. The goal of this collection isn’t to tell you what your child must do. It’s to give Mom and Dad a place to find ideas when they need a little inspiration. You know your children best.

Today, is just the beginning and I want this to become more than one article. I want it to become a place we can keep coming back to. Because when kids have time off may be when we’re introducing it, but the “I’m bored” problem doesn’t end when school starts.

We’ll keep adding ideas for rainy days, weekends, school breaks, holidays, road trips, family time, indoor activities, outdoor activities, inexpensive activities, creative projects, reading time, and those completely unexpected days when everybody suddenly finds themselves at home.

Some will be activities we remember from when Suzanne and Charlie were little. Some will be ideas we’ve discovered along the way. And some may come from other moms and dads who have survived their own chorus of:

“I’m bored.”

Because children don’t need us to fill every minute. Sometimes they just need a little inspiration. And sometimes Mom needs five minutes to drink her coffee while nobody is asking,

“What can I do?” We’ll take that win, too.

Grateful, Thankful, and Blessed.

Thank you,

Glenda, Charlie and David Cates

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