When you began your journey into parenthood, you thought about how you would overcome those sleepless nights with your baby.
You even thought about how you would handle lack of sleep, and how you would go about adapting your life when they arrived; but, did you think about when they got a little bit older, and did you think about what happens when they get bored?
Tantrums and meltdowns in children of any age (especially toddlers) are to be expected, but when children are bored or fed up, you are dealing with a whole mix of emotions and feelings that you can never be prepared for.
So what can you do to deal with boredom when it strikes?
Why Are Your Children Getting Bored?
To begin with, you need to establish why your children are getting bored. Are they lacking stimulation, are they rushing through existing activities to get onto a new one, or are they struggling to focus on one task at a time, for a certain amount of time?
You cannot resolve why they are always getting bored until you have observed them and their behavior. Once you have watched them, and seen when the trigger points are happening, you can then begin to move forward positively, and find a solution or two in the process.
So, take some time out of your day to observe your children and see what they are doing, and see if you can spot the signs of boredom approaching.
Get to the Root of the Problem
It is no good just giving them new items or toys to pass their time if you have not established the root of the problem first.
So, ensure that you truly understand what is happening, when, and why. If you never get to the root of the problem or the cause of their boredom, then you can never fully resolve it.
Take a look at your lives, and a look at theirs, and see if there have been any changes that have affected them of late, and that may have caused them to lose interest a lot quicker than usual.
For example, have they started a new school, made new friends, or has the family dynamic and make-up within your household changed?
Give Them an Event to Look Forward to
Children of all ages need activities and events within their life to look forward to. A lot of boredom is built because children are not aware of what is happening next, and they do not realize what there is to look forward to.
So, to overcome this, give them items that will build their excitement and capture their attention. For example, having a regular subscription box for boys (or girls) delivered every month will give your children an event to look forward too—especially if it is packed with activities, games, and even new toys that they will spend longer than five minutes on!
Fill Their Free Time with Engaging Activities
When you look at what your children are doing in their free time, can you confidently say that their time is filled with engaging activities?
If you are just giving your children anything to entertain them for a while, then you need to stop doing this, and instead you should think about what you are giving them, or making them do, and why. When they are given engaging activities you are less likely to hear “I’m bored.”
