Children do not always need to be entertained, sometimes boredom is good for them

Most children are trapped at home due to the outbreak of COVID-19. They must find ways to socialize, do their school work, exercise and entertain themselves.

It is not surprising that parents can hear "I am bored" much more than before.

People hate getting bored. So much so in one study , a quarter of the participants said that they would rather give themselves a painful shock than be in a room without external stimulation (music, books, phones) for 15 minutes.

This shows how much people want to escape the feeling of boredom.

But while boredom causes temporary uncomfortable feelings, it can be good for us in many ways - from stimulating creativity to helping to train our concentration.

Why do we get bored?

Boredom is an emotional state, it is temporary . A bored person has unpleasant feelings, lacks interest in performing tasks and has trouble paying attention .

A bored person has things they can do, they just can't (or don't) get involved in activities.


Leads can come from lack of rest and nutrition, lack of mental stimulation or too much repetition (lack of news). People with a high sensitivity to reward , which means that those who need constant stimulation to feel satisfied, are at risk of getting bored.

Boredom doesn't mean you don't have things to do; you just don't want to do them.

A person can get bored if a task is not stimulating enough, if the work is too hard or too simple and if activities lack meaning and challenge.

Lack of control can also contribute to boredom. In one study , students showed more boredom when an adult chose their leisure activity than when they were allowed to generate their own.

COVID-19 can throw up all these situations - sleepless nights, not enough news and lack of control.

The good and the bad of being bored

Boredom can lead to creativity. Participants in a study showed more divergent thinking (finding multiple uses of objects, creating links between seemingly independent ideas, and generating more creative ideas) after doing a tedious task.

In another study , participants must either complete a boring activity of sorting beans by color or having a fun craft activity before completing a creative task. Participants who had to sort the beans showed a better quality and variety of ideas than those who had made crafts before the creative task.

Creativity shows that when you are bored, people actively seek something stimulating. Creativity is a challenge that meets this need.

Getting bored also helps train our concentration and attention. It is easy to turn to electronic devices to maintain and distract when we are bored, but research shows that devices do not meet boredom.

In fact, this "basic" engagement with our units diminishes our ability to concentrate, manage tasks and find flow .

Sitting with boredom and solving it is an effective way to educate ourselves to concentrate and undergo hard or monotonous tasks.

It teaches us to go to different places in our minds when we do not have external stimulation. In other words, our mind gets a workout. Sadness is good for us and it is good for your child.

Solutions to boredom

So if you think your child is getting tired, you don't have to feel guilty about not maintaining them.

Instead, consider the following:

• Make sure your child is not just hungry or tired because everything can feel sad then. It's not boredom, just a lack of energy to participate in an activity

• there are unusual times where a lot feels out of control, so see how you can give your child new daily choices (for example, a menu for the day, where you have dinner or what order they do their school work)

• Do not feel guilty or responsible for stopping this "Terrible Experience" for your children. They can develop internal resources (attention, self-regulation, creativity) by having to solve the boredom problem themselves.

• Teach your child not to be afraid of the feelings that come with boredom, but excited. Boredom is a signal that indicates change is needed . Help them create ideas and then choose one to get involved in. Let them be responsible for the choice. Get them to create a drawer with ideas they can choose from

• Sadness is sometimes just about getting over the difficult part of getting started. Your child may not be bored, just not knowing where to start. Help them split a task and get started

• our attention is easily stolen by our mobile devices because they provide a simple distraction. Try setting a timer with your family, switch off your devices and everyone participates in something meaningful for 20 minutes. Creativity shows up in space. You never know what you can achieve if you keep distracting them.