The Power of PLAY & the Gift of Boredom
At the risk of sounding like a broken record... I'm going to say it again, for you and as a reminder to myself as a parent...
One of the best gifts we can give kids during school closures is time to be bored. It gives them the opportunity to set & live out their own agenda. Trust that they are going to find meaningful projects to work on. Let them set goals for themselves and see them through. What may look silly to you, is not to them, they are learning some of the most important lessons from their most important teacher... themselves. Even when they aren’t seemingly active they could very well be pondering and processing, putting pieces of information they don’t usually have time to think about together. Down time is healthy to allow them to let this huge change settle with in them.
Research shows that when children have ample time to direct their own play, they are much better at setting and achieving their own goals as adults.
It might take them a little while, if they aren't used to being bored to get accustomed to the idea of filling their own time. They might come to you asking for something to do. It is ok to encourage them to find something for themselves to do and even better explain to them how important their choice is in the big picture. The benefits are many: growth in confidence, innovation, creativity, problem solving, process skills, communication skills, self motivation, engagement, autonomy, agency, collaboration, to name a few.
One of the best gifts we can give kids during school closures is time to be bored. It gives them the opportunity to set & live out their own agenda. Trust that they are going to find meaningful projects to work on. Let them set goals for themselves and see them through. What may look silly to you, is not to them, they are learning some of the most important lessons from their most important teacher... themselves. Even when they aren’t seemingly active they could very well be pondering and processing, putting pieces of information they don’t usually have time to think about together. Down time is healthy to allow them to let this huge change settle with in them.
Research shows that when children have ample time to direct their own play, they are much better at setting and achieving their own goals as adults.
It might take them a little while, if they aren't used to being bored to get accustomed to the idea of filling their own time. They might come to you asking for something to do. It is ok to encourage them to find something for themselves to do and even better explain to them how important their choice is in the big picture. The benefits are many: growth in confidence, innovation, creativity, problem solving, process skills, communication skills, self motivation, engagement, autonomy, agency, collaboration, to name a few.
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