Stop fretting about your toddler being bored because it is actually very good for them.
A very common complaint about toddlers is that they are bored and there is nothing for them to do. Parents hear this complaint and automatically might assume that they are bored because there are not enough toys, games, and fun activities for their children to do throughout the day. Pinterest is filled with Boredom Buster activity ideas for parents to do to help their children avoid being bored. Parents are afraid that if their children get bored that it somehow affects their development. On the contrary, it is so beneficial and important for children to feel bored.
Being bored is part of life. It is just something we all have to get through. In every stage of life, we deal with not being stimulated at all times. Kids are bored through classes, activities, homework assignments, and at home. Adults are bored as they start their jobs, get through meetings, and have to be involved in tedious jobs. It is so important to teach toddlers how to handle being bored because it is a skill that they will need for the rest of their lives. In fact, many scholars suggest that being bored can bring about the most growth, development, and thought-provoking concepts. The Liberationist beautiful states the concept of boredom, "Boredom is a clean slate. Being bored is escapism — it’s a mental state that we choose to avoid self-reflection. We feel bored because, deep inside ourselves, we know we can give more. Boredom is the pain of unused potential; it’s a disconnection to everything we can offer the world and vice versa. Boredom is a powerful tool that invites you to rethink your relationship with the world."
In the modern age, we do everything we can to avoid being bored. In turn, we try to help our children avoid being bored. We fill our bored moments with television, tablets, social media, and video games. We don't allow ourselves to think creatively about how to solve our boredom. We go straight to the easiest thing to solve our desire for instant satisfaction. When our toddlers are bored we hand them a tablet, allow them to watch a television show, or plan extravagant activities to keep kids busy.
There are many benefits to allowing your toddlers to be bored:
Encourages Creativity
Sandi Mann, a senior psychology lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire in the U.K. Mann is the author of The Upside of Downtime: Why Boredom Is Good. Mann believes that people who are bored are the ones who turn out to be the most creative. At its core, boredom is “a search for neural stimulation that isn’t satisfied,” Mann says. She continues, “If we can’t find that, our mind will create it. There’s no other way of getting that stimulation, so you have to go into your head." Wired states, "Boredom might spark creativity because a restless mind hungers for stimulation. Maybe traversing an expanse of tedium creates a sort of cognitive forward motion." When toddlers are bored they don't want to be bored. They will try to do whatever it takes to not be bored anymore. They want to do something that will help them come out of their boring state. That is when they will start being creative in how they are going to handle their current situation. If you (the parent) jumps up to help them every time they are bored then they won't learn how to be creative by themselves.
In a 2014 study in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology found that bored people “are more likely to engage in sensation seeking”—that is, to look for activities or sights that engage their minds and stimulate the brain’s reward centers. These people are more prone to “divergent thinking styles”—the ability to come up with creative new ideas.
Develop Confidence
If a toddler is complaining about being bored and then finds something constructive to do to help with their boredom it will give them a self-esteem boost. If you hear your child say that they "are bored" then you need not do anything. You let them figure out what they are going to do. Just let them figure it out. They will probably whine, be frustrated that they are not being entertained and then something amazing will happen. They will want to do something that makes it so they are not bored anymore. Once they figure out how to solve their boredom they will be so proud of themselves. They won't need you as much to help entertain them.
Screen-Free Parenting says, "There should be a balance in your child’s life: times when you are actively playing with them and times when they are encouraged to play independently in a rather open-ended way." They continue, "We love to play with our children and believe it helps us bond with them, learn from them, and teach them. But, we also love to watch our children come up with their own games and explore their own interests, independent from us." Screen-Free Parenting is all about teaching parents to raise their kids without the crutch of a device. Parents should be slower to hand their kids a tablet or to turn on the television.
Independence
Your toddlers rely on you for so many things. You are their everything. They need you for when they are hungry, or need their diaper changed, or to help while going to the bathroom. They need you to get them water, to read them books, and to help put on their clothes. Believe it or not, your toddlers don't actually want to be completely dependent on you. We learn from a very young age how we want to be our own people. Family Education says that the reason terrible two's gets its name is because toddlers don't even know what they want because they are struggling with their identity. They are seeking for independence but still need you to help. It is a complicated time, "The struggle toward some degree of separation, autonomy, independence, and the ultimate issue—identity."
The most important thing you can do when your toddler says they are bored is nothing. Don't walk them through the steps and don't tell them what they should do. Let them learn, grow, and figure it out. The skill to entertain themselves will become very beneficial as they get older and they will become more successful people which is the ultimate goal of parenthood.
Sources: The Liberationist, TIME, WIRED, Quartz, The School Run, Family Education, Today's Parents,