I'm Bored...

[coolconfidentme]

I hear that from kids these days. Kids today are entertained rather then finding their own entertainment. I don't feel it's not my job to entertain DCKs. Maybe I'm wrong, idk.

I don't have a TV & we have back to basics type of toys; only a couple battery operated toys. I encourage DCKs to play independently without me. If we are building blocks within 10 minutes they are done. I tell them to sit there & watch..., we aren't done. Sometimes they sit, sometimes they continue to play.

My school aged kids brought tables to play games on & I told them they cannot play with them; we don't bring toys to daycare. I gave them a board game to play with & you guess it, 10 minutes later they were done & bored. We have tons of board games & books. They aren't interested, so it has been a long week for them.

To me boredom is a choice. When they say they are bored, I reply, "Be bored then, that's your choice. Those kids are choosing to have fun." They usually whine or mope about it's boring bla bla bla & I shug my shoulders at them with a smile.

How do you handle kids who say they are bored?

[Meyou]

Bored school aged kids here do chores. I rarely hear anyone is bored.

For smaller kids sometimes a few lessons on HOW to play games can help alot. If they aren't used to playing with their brains then they often benefit from guidance. I told my DCG's once that there was a little castle in the floor vent under the grate if they looked very closely. They now watch for tiny people, dragons, castles, monsters, fairies, etc, etc in vents all over the house.

[coolconfidentme]

Bored school aged kids here do chores. I rarely hear anyone is bored.

For smaller kids sometimes a few lessons on HOW to play games can help alot. If they aren't used to playing with their brains then they often benefit from guidance. I told my DCG's once that there was a little castle in the floor vent under the grate if they looked very closely. They now watch for tiny people, dragons, castles, monsters, fairies, etc, etc in vents all over the house.

My SO tried that, but the kids kept taking the vent covers off making a hazard.

Every new child we start out teaching them to play independently. We have a table fort & do a ton of fun stuff. It seems like if the toy doesn't DO something, they aren't interested. They don't play like this at home & don't want to do it here.

[Josiegirl]

I keep telling the bored kids that I wish I had a minute to get bored.
After I've exhausted all the possibilities of suggestions on what they can do, I just walk away and play with the ones who are already being active. I had one 5 yo dcb who complained he was bored a lot. He kept saying "Can I play with my ipod(or Kindle)?" Yeh, maybe at quiet time.
Grrr

[Soccermom]

Kids don't play the way we did when we were young anymore. It is sad. I posted about this just the other day...the lack of imaginations in kids these days is really hindering their ability to entertain themselves.

I provide lots of toys and tons games but the kids tend to go to the same things over and over. They don't even touch the board games. We used to play board games all the time and loved it!

One way to entertain school agers is to involve them in a project. I also have a huge box of markers and activity books. I just put them out on the table.
I also have a big bin of craft supplies that I just let them get creative with.

Other than that I just tell them to go play. It is so annoying. I mean seriously GO PLAY!!!

Do you find kids also feel the need to tell you and show you EVERYTHING they are doing at any given time. Why do they need so much adult attention and direction all the time?! It frustrates me to no end! They just cling to me constantly looking for what they are supposed to do next. There are dolls, barbies, cars, trucks, games, ride ons, play kitchens, dress up, books, train table, construction center, toy bins galore...pick something!!

[Familycare71]

Bored school aged kids here do chores. I rarely hear anyone is bored.

For smaller kids sometimes a few lessons on HOW to play games can help alot. If they aren't used to playing with their brains then they often benefit from guidance. I told my DCG's once that there was a little castle in the floor vent under the grate if they looked very closely. They now watch for tiny people, dragons, castles, monsters, fairies, etc, etc in vents all over the house.

Me too! Bored? I definetly have something for you to do!!! ::

[Blackcat31]

I don't have this issue at daycare for two reasons.

1) almost all my DCK's are only children eager to play with their friends
and
2) I don't have SA'ers who, I think are usually the ones who complain about being bored.

When my kids were young, we have a bored board.

If you are bored, you choose an activity from the board.

As a child, if I complained of being bored, I was told "Only boring people are bored"

[Unregistered]

Bored school aged kids here do chores. I rarely hear anyone is bored.

For smaller kids sometimes a few lessons on HOW to play games can help alot. If they aren't used to playing with their brains then they often benefit from guidance. I told my DCG's once that there was a little castle in the floor vent under the grate if they looked very closely. They now watch for tiny people, dragons, castles, monsters, fairies, etc, etc in vents all over the house.

Love this idea for school agers!!! I'm going to start doing that! Thanks for the idea!

[Mister Sir Husband]

I have a 4 year old who can go either way on this.. he likes to play on the computer, but also has a blast playing with toys that as mentioned above "don't do anything". When I finished my deck a few weeks ago he occupied himself for hours building stuff with all the spare pcs of wood I had left over. I kept all the scrap and plan on cutting/sanding all of it into smaller pcs & putting it into a big bin for the dcks to play with. I will easily have a couple hundred pcs when I'm done. I also saw on pintrest the idea of painting some of them with chalkboard paint to add interest.

[Unregistered]

All kids need structure. You need to schedule out their day a bit. Always know what activities are next and mix up the quiet activities from the active activities. For example:

Puzzle time
Dance time
Building blocks
Ball time- basketball, golf, tball, etc
Reading time
Hop Scotch
Imaginary time- play kitchen, dress-up, etc, they get to choose
Arts and crafts

You can't expect them to know what to do, you have to direct them. Soon they will be coming to you asking if it is time to do puzzles yet? It sounds like you need to be a little more involved. How many kids do you have? Is it just you? Maybe we need to know a little more information to help you. The way you make it sound, its like you just expect to sit there and they should figure it out. I'm sure that is not how you meant it, but that is what it sounds like.

[Jack Sprat]

All kids need structure. You need to schedule out their day a bit. Always know what activities are next and mix up the quiet activities from the active activities. For example:

Puzzle time
Dance time
Building blocks
Ball time- basketball, golf, tball, etc
Reading time
Hop Scotch
Imaginary time- play kitchen, dress-up, etc, they get to choose
Arts and crafts

You can't expect them to know what to do, you have to direct them. Soon they will be coming to you asking if it is time to do puzzles yet? It sounds like you need to be a little more involved. How many kids do you have? Is it just you? Maybe we need to know a little more information to help you. The way you make it sound, its like you just expect to sit there and they should figure it out. I'm sure that is not how you meant it, but that is what it sounds like.

I agree with that kids need structure. However, I believe that kids need unstructured play time. Time to play freely, openly with whatever they choose and however they choose. It sounds to me that the SA's are so used to having every minute accounted for they have no idea how to play on their own or focus for long on one thing. It has been my experience that these are the children who have unlimited access to electronics and television or their parents are constantly "entertaining" them.

At our house if my own children say they are bored they are given a chore. If the SA dck say they are bored they are asked to look around at their friends and see if anything they are doing looks fun and join them. This usually works.

[Heidi]

I agree with that kids need structure. However, I believe that kids need unstructured play time. Time to play freely, openly with whatever they choose and however they choose. It sounds to me that the SA's are so used to having every minute accounted for they have no idea how to play on their own or focus for long on one thing. It has been my experience that these are the children who have unlimited access to electronics and television or their parents are constantly "entertaining" them.

At our house if my own children say they are bored they are given a chore. If the SA dck say they are bored they are asked to look around at their friends and see if anything they are doing looks fun and join them. This usually works.

Not trying to be disrespectful to PP, but I would never schedule "puzzle time" or "this time" or "that time". Our schedule here is more a rhythm of the day than a real schedule. We eat, sleep, play, eat, sleep play. More sleep for the littlest ones, less for the older ones.

"I'm bored" is usually answered with "I'm sure I can find you a job to do" as well.

I am NOT a party clown...:: I do not entertain children.

[coolconfidentme]

It just seems like kids just don't know how to play without direction or electronics anymore...

[jenn]

I don't put much energy into responding to that statement. I have from 6 months-kindergarten. My response to "I'm bored" is "Then go find something to do, silly". I don't want them to become dependent on me creating something for them to do or redirecting them. They need to be able to make choices on their own. There are plenty of activities for them and they have access to them without asking.