“Mom, Dad, I’m bored!”
“There is nothing to do all day!”
If you’re a parent, chances are you would have come across such tantrums from your kids. As a parent it can be quite aggravating as you wrack your brains for some creative solutions. Parents play a vital and irreplaceable role in a child’s life. The relationships they share with their kids have everlasting impacts on their personalities. It is a fact that children are never easy to raise, and there are no set guidelines or rules to follow as you wander into uncharted territory of being a mom or a dad.
Alia Sheikh, founder of Friv 2 (Games For Kids), rightly said “Life is beautiful when you play games, but if these games nurture your kid’s mental health, teach them some lessons, empowers them to become better people and spark creative juices to think out of box, it becomes even more beautiful”.
As a parent you want to prepare your child to deal with the bigger moral and social pitfalls of this modern, complex world that they will have to face throughout their life. But nobody said this preparation has to be a redundant cycle of joyless chores; it can be a fun and educational experience for both child and the parent. Boredom should be seen as an opportunity that can be used to divert your child’s attention into activities that provide an educational and interactive yet pleasurable experience. This will leave your kids with a feeling that their parent/s is/are involved in their lives and have not abandoned them.
So let’s see, you have provided your kid an entire bedroom full of toys, a whole art table, loads of interesting story books and yet that’s not necessarily enough, you might still hear them say the dreaded words “I am bored”. As a parent, this is the moment that you fire up those creative pistons in your head. Following are some of the activities that can make the apple of your eye squealing with delight once again.
Collaborative Activities
Activities done together or with a group of people are always entertaining and very valuable as they teach your kids team work, social interaction and critical communication skills:
1. Gather other neighborhood kids and encourage all of them to start a poetry club.
2. Excite them by saying “Let’s do some gardening.”
3. Bake a cake with them.
4. Have them help you clean around the house making a lively activity out of it.
5. Enhance their technology skills by telling them to make an interesting video of themselves.
6. In a creative way boost their confidence by asking them to help others study in a fun way.
7. Ask them to communicate with their younger siblings in an attempt to understand each other better.
8. Make your child learn basic finances by arranging activities like engaging them in setting a budget for home, but in an amusing way, obviously.
9. Help them learn a new language.
10. Play truth and dare with them.
11. Allow them to throw pranks on their friends and family but maintain discipline.
12. Engage them in some social work e.g. raising money for charity.
Creative Exercise
Creative exercises help stimulate a child’s development and let them enjoy themselves in their own unique way:
13. Ask them to dress like a certain character and then visit around the neighborhood, intending to make people laugh aloud.
14. Tell them to paint a picture they have in their minds.
15. Let them gather stamps to make their own stamp book.
16. Let them explore their creativity by letting them turn a box into something wacky.
17. Create a family tree.
18. Let them build a hut out of blocks.
19. Make a stuffed toy.
20. Permit them to dye one of their white shirts.
21. Take them to out to sketch a beautiful view.
Pure Joy
Pure leisure activities are just as important and help your child relax and enjoy their off time from school; we’re only a kid once, after all!
22. Time to take Tommy out for a walk in a nearby park? Kids love bring pets or look at dogs at the park.
23. Cheer them up with their favorite cartoons.
24. Help them learn jump rope.
25. Allow them to blow as many bubbles they want to.
26. Learning a dance could be fun as well.
27. They could record themselves singing a song.
28. Take them out camping.
29. Go out fishing with them.
30. Treat them by taking them to their choice of ice-cream parlor.
31. Let them play in a bubble bath.
32. Accommodate them with video games that can help them with some real life skills, such as cooking, maths, coordination, and patience.
33. Plan their next holiday. You could also make a plan about how they would like to ensure they make the most out of their school holidays.
34. They could listen to the radio.
35. Drive them to the zoo.
There are plenty of other things to do but it mainly depends on your child’s nature and what interests them most. You, as a parent, can put some more effort into knowing your child’s moods, thus choosing an appropriate activity to get them out of that mood when they tell you, “MAMA I AM BORED!”
Featured photo credit: Parents / nerdcoregirl via c2.staticflickr.com
