Stop Entertaining Your Kids. Let Them Be Bored Instead
Why doing nothing is the secret to raising creative thinkers in a hyper-stimulated world.
It’s Saturday morning. You’ve just finished breakfast, and you hear it. The dreaded whine:
“Mooooom, Daaaaad, I’m booooored. There’s nothing to doooo.”
Your parenting instinct kicks in immediately. You need to fix it. You offer a screen, suggest a craft project, or start listing expensive outings. We live in a culture that tells us good parents keep their kids constantly engaged and stimulated. We feel guilty when they have nothing to do.
But today, I want you to try something radical. Don’t fix it.
The Magic of “Doing Nothing”
In our rush to keep our children busy, we’ve forgotten a crucial truth: Boredom is not a problem to be solved. It is a necessary ingredient for growth.
When a child is constantly entertained by screens or structured activities, their brain is in “reactive” mode. They are just responding to noise and light.
When you take away the stimulation, their brain has to switch gears. It enters “daydream mode.” At first, this feels uncomfortable to them. But this empty space is where imagination, self-reliance, and problem-solving are born. You cannot teach creativity; you can only provide the space for it to happen.
The Weekend Challenge: The “Boring Object” Test
If your child (aged 5-10) is used to constant entertainment, they need practice being bored. Try this experiment this weekend:
Wait for the whine. When they say they are bored, cheerfully reply: “That’s great! That means your brain is getting ready to invent something fun.”
Provide one dull object. Don’t give them a complex Lego set. Give them something open-ended. A large cardboard box is the gold standard. A stack of plastic cups or a pile of blankets also works wonders.
The hardest part: Walk away. Do not offer suggestions. Do not help.
They will be frustrated for ten minutes. They might lay on the floor and sigh loudly. Let them.
Eventually, the discomfort of boredom will outweigh the effort of playing. The brain will kick into gear. The box will become a cave, a submarine, or a robot suit.
Give your children the gift of empty space this weekend. You might be amazed at what they choose to fill it with.