100 Activities for Bored Kids

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“I’m bored” is a phrase millions of parents are more than familiar with. Kids get bored, that’s just the way it is. And as parents, we spend a lot time trying to find ways to get them something to do, to make them feel less bored. But what if the answer was to let them handle some of their boredom on their own?

Science says that boredom can be constructive for children. We now know that letting your child take charge of their own boredom can help them strengthen their decision-making skills and increase their creativity.

In one study, a group of researchers were convinced that addictive behaviors in adulthood began in childhood because of children’s excessive dependence on toys and on the presence of adults (parents, teachers, etc.). They therefore conducted a study to try and understand how reducing the number of toys and the dependence on adults would influence children’s behavior.

The study took place in a day care center in Germany. All the toys (even pencils, papers, etc.) were taken away from a few children for a period of three months, leaving them with only the necessities (furniture, blankets, etc.). The adults were asked not to intervene and to let the children deal with their boredom on their own.

The study found that although these children were initially lost without their toys and without being able to rely on adults, they quickly began to come up with activities that revolved around role playing, building projects, excursions to collect sticks and twigs to build with, and so on. They also learned to play and work together around common ideas. In this new arrangement, adults were responsible for organizing materials and manipulating tools when the children had new ideas.

The researchers found that the children who participated in this study were more creative, better balanced, and more sure of themselves and of their abilities.

Should you let your child get bored?

According to one study reported on BBC, “children need to have stand-and-stare time, time imagining and pursuing their own thinking processes or assimilating their experiences through play or just observing the world around them.”

In other words, you don’t have to feel guilty about not entertaining your kid. That being said, boredom can lead to frustration in children because many children are unable to manage unstructured time by themselves.

According to Professor McNamara who has worked extensively on children’s boredom in school settings, “children need guidance, role models and activities that help them connect and maintain their friendships.” What this means is that while you do not always have to step in when your child is bored, they need an unstructured but nurturing environment to spark their creativity. They need to experience what is referred to as “constructive boredom”.

What to do when your child says they are bored

To foster your child’s creativity and enable them to solve problems on their own, they must have access to several resources and an appropriate environment. Once this is in place, you have to allow them to choose their activities by themselves.

Constructive boredom means providing opportunities for your child to use their creativity and imagination. An “I’m bored box” is an easy solution that can help them cope with their boredom on their own. This box works because it provides a framework and then leaves them free to choose what they want to do.

Using an “I’m bored box” for your bored child

Although boredom can facilitate the development of skills such as creativity, most children need guidance to effectively deal with moments of boredom. An “I’m bored box” makes it possible to propose several activities to your child and therefore allows them to choose the activities they are interested in to deal with their boredom.

First, find activities that your child enjoys doing and can do on their own. Ask them questions about their favorite activities but feel free to propose other age-appropriate activities. When you have a list of possible activities, print them out and put them in a box or jar. For our children, we chose a small cardboard box which we painted and then decorated. You can  also use pictures if your child is not reading yet.

Remember that for the box to work, they must be able to easily access the activities proposed. To make it easier for young children to access the activities proposed (books, puzzles, mandalas, etc.), consider placing them on low shelves.

How to make the “I’m bored box” an effective tool for kids

It is important to lay down some basic rules for your child’s “I’m bored” box to be effective.

• First, decide how many times your child can pick the cards from the box. For example, you can let them choose 2 cards and pick one of the two. Any rules you decide on are okay, but letting your child know what is expected helps provide a framework to guide their actions.
• Also, it may be helpful to set a minimum time for each activity selected. In general, young kids have an attention span of about 15 to 20 minutes. Consider providing them with an hourglass or an alarm clock to make them time themselves and feel all grown-up.

Here are 100 ideas in response to your child’s common “I’m bored” phrase. At the end of this article, you will find a free, printable version of these activities along with empty templates that you can use to add ideas more suited to their interests.

What to do when your child is bored: 100 activities to keep your child busy at home

FREE DOWNLOAD AT THE END OF THE ARTICLE

Here are 100 activities for both bored boys and girls. The good news is that most of them require minimal intervention from adults.

Practical idea

• Print these activities
• Place the printed papers in a jar (like a mason jar) or in a box.
• Place the jar where your child can access it easily. Whenever they are bored, they can pick an activity to do.

1. Do a puzzle
2. Make an animal sculpture out of clay. A Little Bit of Dirt has awesome ideas to help reconnect children with nature.
3. Play LEGO. Get tips on how to choose appropriate construction toys here.
4. Invent a secret language or a secret code
5. Play with Playmobil
6. Fold origami. You can find free instructions for origami for kids hereor get Creativity for Kids Origami
7. Write a story
8. Create a picture story
9. Be a reporter for a day (come up with a storyline/interview family members)
10. Make a video
11. Make a documentary about things found in your external environment (garden, park)
12. Make a documentary about things in the house
13. Paint seashells
14. Use a Bug Catcher to explore your environment
15. Use Youtube to learn a magic trick
16. Plant a garden
17. Color a Mandala. You can make some yourself, download free models here or get the Kids’ Magical Mandalas
18. Plan a meal that doesn’t need cooking
19. Prepare a meal that doesn’t need cooking
20. Grab your “I’m bored resources”

Creating a box of resources filled with activities that your child can do is a great idea to help them deal with their boredom by themselves. You can fill the box with coloring books, mazes, puzzles, jokes, books and so on. Here are some ideas  that they may like:

3- to 6-year olds

Dot To Dot Books For Kids

Unicorn Activity Book for Kids

Mazes For Kids

Space Coloring and Activity Book for Kids

365 Jumbo Activity Book for Kids

6- to 8-year olds

Amelia Bedelia 12-Book Boxed Set

The Big Book of Silly Jokes for Kids

Fun Riddles & Trick Questions For Kids and Family

Activity Book for Kids

Awesome Science Experiments for Kids

Exploring Nature Activity Book for Kids

Awesome Engineering Activities for Kids

8- to 12-year olds

Mindfulness Workbook for Kids

Brain Games: Big Book of Boredom Busters

Ultimate Puzzle Challenge!

Dot to Dot books

Ultimate Origami for Beginners Kit

The Hardest Hidden Pictures Book Ever

Create This Book

Finish This Book

20. Do a nature count: Take a walk and count all the insects (animals, trees …) you see.
21. Create something using recycled material
22. Take a picture of insects in your environment
23. Pick and dry leaves
24. Make a rainbow. You can find easy instructions here
25. Write a comic strip
26. Measure grains (such as rice) to learn about volume
27. Put up a teepee tent using sticks and old clothes/material

28) Read. If your child is an avid reader or if you want them to become one, then the award-winning Bookroo box is for you. Whatever your kid’s age, Bookroo will deliver books to your child every month that will make reading exciting.

29. Prepare a picnic
30. Finger paint using Washable Paint
31. Take a walk and name all the colors you see
32. Play hide and seek
33. Make shapes with dry spaghetti and play-doh
34. Paint rocks
35. Play with leaves
36. Pick flowers
37. Put up a tent using recycled carton
38. Play “I-spy”.

39) Do an exercise that requires concentration. The exercises in the guide “Nurturing Constructive Boredom: Over 101 fun activities to boost your child’s concentration and autonomy” are specially designed to

– increase your child’s ability to concentrate

– learn to stay focused on specific information and ignore others
– increase their ability to “think then act”
– Increase their ability to correctly choose specific items from a group of proposed items
– Help your child to practice certain scientifically validated tasks

40. Color
41. Invent a board game
42. Explore using a magnifying glass. The Curious Kid’s Science Book has over 100 great ideas for 4- to 8-year olds
43. Play a board game
44. Make a costume
45. Make ice lollies
46. Make a monster from recycled items (tin foil, cardboard, old clothes)
47. Record a song
48. Make leaf prints. Easy instructions here
49. Invent a ball game
50. Play a ball game
51. Draw a picture from a model
52. Play with stickers
53. Make a still-life painting
54. Make a pearl bracelet or necklace
55. Draw using rice grains
56. Organize an obstacle race
57. Use Google Maps to find favorite places (your home, relatives homes,  school, library, etc.)
58. Organize a treasure hunt
59. Participate in a treasure hunt
60. Build a den with recycled carton
61. Make a string phone using paper cups
62. Make a robot from recycled items (tin foil, cardboard, old clothes)
63. Try the “does an orange float or sink” experiment
64. Play inside a cardboard box
65. Start a collection (stamps, coins, insects…)
66. Participate in a scavenger hunt. 30 great free printable scavenger hunts for kids available here. Scavenger hunts the whole family can participate in are available here.
67. Pretend you’re an explorer
68. Do a craft activity

Subscription boxes for kids provide all the material your child needs to create, discover and have fun. They offer creative, educational and manual activities to occupy them and help them learn more about a predefined theme.  Here are a few subscription boxes for both girls and boys that you may want to check out.

• Subscriptions for the nature lover: Green Kid Crafts 
• Subscriptions for the arty kid: We craft Box
• Subscriptions for the kid into coding: Bitsbox

69. Invent a card game
70. Draw a picture of the house’s exterior
71. Make a kite
72. Make fruit skewers
73. Come up with a dance choreography
74. Prepare a skit
75. Prepare for a show (make tickets, prepare snacks)
76. Use a globe to find five countries in each continent
77. Search the Internet to find out how people from a different culture live (how they dress, what they eat, etc)
78. Make homemade bubble solutions. Different ways to make solutions here
79. Make sandwiches for lunch
80. Write a poem
81. Make a mask from cardboard and other recycled materials
82. Find the capital cities of 10 countries and memorize them
83. Draw a portrait
84. Draw an imaginary planet
85. Create a pretend restaurant
86. Make a lemonade stand
87. Make up a song
88. Organize a family night
89. Design and build a house using recycled materials
90. Come up with a puppet show
91. Disguise yourself
92. Invent a scent
93. Do a crossword
94. Speak “in rhymes” for the next 20 minutes
95. Learn how to create something from Youtube
96. Invent the next episode of your favorite program
97. Turn recycled water bottles into bowling pins. Ideas here
98. Make a postcard
99. Make an animal using paper rolls
100. Do a paper collage using recycled paper
101. Cut out shapes (or trees, or flowers…) from old magazines
102. Grow butterflies using this great Butterfly Growing Kit
103. Play Simon says

Still short on ideas? Check out 150+ Screen-Free Activities for Kids or other great ideas to develop your child’s creativity.

HERE ARE YOUR FREE “I’M BORED CARDS” TO DOWNLOAD

What to do when your child is bored

Numerous studies suggest that boredom can be constructive for children. Even though we now know that you do not have to constantly intervene in your child’s boredom, it is not always easy to know how to help them handle such moments more independently.

What if you could encourage your child to deal with some of their boredom on their own AND foster skills such as concentration, decision-making and independence? The “constructive boredom” kit offers:

• Over 100 illustrated activities• Specially designed worksheets to help your child manage their boredom on their own• More than 100 exercises to do and redo• More than ten tested and illustrated recipes• A guide for parents with additional activities that are easy to set up• Additional concentration exercises

Please share if you’ve enjoyed reading. I’d appreciate it.

French version

References

http://www.academia.edu/4724789/A_factor_analytic_study_of_the_Boredom_Proneness_Scale_BPS_

http://pps.sagepub.com/content/7/5/482

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00593/full