So Your Kids Are Bored: 5 Tips For Combating Boredom In Your Children

Nothing can drive us more nuts than when our kids

, with their house full of high-tech toys and out-of-this world video games keep coming into the home office, laundry room, or kitchen to tell us how bored they are. How in the world can you be bored? It seems they've got everything they need, but if you think back on your own childhood, you'll probably realize you had the same problem from time to time. Here's a few tips for dealing with these situations when you really just don't have the time to play "entertainer" to your kids.

1. Active Games

Hide and seek, freeze-tag, hopscotch, touch footballnone of these things are any less fun now than they were when we were kids. Encourage your children to play outside, and teach them all the games you can think of or find on the Internet. If you do this, you probably won't hear the bored complaint so much, and if you do, you can always send them outside to find their own solution to the problem. Another good thing to do is set up a small playground, a trampoline, or some swing sets out in the back yardthat will keep them busy for days when the newest video game loses it's allure.

2. Stock Props

You don't need to buy every tool in the world, but leaving some props around for kids to play with can alleviate problems. Again, not new-fangled toyswhich often lose their appealbut the stuff that never gets old. A set of mitts, a bat, and a few baseballs. Jump ropes. Badminton set. Board games. A makeshift kid-sized basketball hoop and a swing. Those sort of things.

3. Books

Teaching a child to read and to love to read opens up a world of possibility for them. My mother always had us reading books, and for this reasons I was rarely if ever bored at home, even if it meant reading my favorite books over and over again.

4. Chores

What about chores? Teaching children to work and take responsibilities is important too, and there are ways to make it a fun, playful endeavor. Even if they hate chores, it will get their mind working quick if you suggest it as a way to get rid of their boredom.

5. Let Them Deal

Life isn't always 100% fun. Sometimes we get bored. Sometimes we do things we don't want to. And you know what, that's an important life lesson for children to have. They not only need to learn this but they also need to learn how to use their imagination to come up with things to do when life slows down and leaves their mind wandering.

You know, it is important for us to stimulate our children's minds, keep them active, and keep them from being distracted by unhealthy habits, but it isn't our job to put on a bunny suit 24/7 and dance around for them either. As always, balance is bestso figure out a few great ways to deal with boredom when you're in no position to handle it for them, and it will make your busy days a lot easier.

by: James Druman

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