Let Your Kid Get Bored. Seriously!
- Priya Fulwani
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
Think about the last time you were bored. Maybe on that one Thursday last year when your phone was updating its software. Or the electricity went out for a full 60 seconds. Or your old laptop took an extra 5 seconds to start.
We’re never bored. We always have something to do. Some videos to scroll through, some emails to write, new levels of a video game to be achieved.
What does it mean? Especially for young, curious minds? But first:
Do We Need To Get Bored?
Agatha Christie said, “There’s nothing like boredom to make you write.”
J.K. Rowling was bored when her train was delayed, and she got to writing the first draft of... you-know-what.
Isaac Newton was away from routine, sitting quietly under a tree when the apple fell.
Archimedes was soaking in a nice bubble bath when Eureka happened.
Einstein made significant breakthroughs while working in a patent office, doing what was basically a lot of stamp-stamp-copy-copy.
What’s common in all these scenarios? They were all BORED!
Boredom activates the behind-the-scenes part of our mind that kicks in when we’re not actively focused on anything. It’s linked to creativity, empathy, and reflection.
"Boredom in itself is not creative. When you feel bored, because it’s an aversive and uncomfortable state, you’re motivated to look for something else. In that gap there’s a real chance to discover something new,” says John D. Eastwood in Out of My Skull: The Psychology of Boredom.
Just as our muscles need rest days between workouts, and our bodies need sleep to reset, our brains need moments of nothingness to make sense of things, connect dots, and spark ideas. It builds the foundation for wonder. Especially for young kids.
They need to be bored. They need to daydream and doodle and follow a bug for 15 minutes just to see if it’s meeting its family. They need to build spaceships out of cushions and ask a hundred questions that parents absolutely do not have the answer to.
Why Do Parents Rush To Shake It Off?
Stillness can be confronting. It mirrors our own discomfort with 'doing nothing.' The ‘hustle culture’ glorifies productivity, where being busy equals being successful. So when kids say they’re bored, it triggers something. A little panic. A little guilt.
Are we not engaging them enough? Should we sign them up for something else? When is the next play date? Is screen time okay just this once? What are the other kids doing?
We rush to fill the silence.
What Happens When We Always Fill the Gap?
Kids become passive consumers, not creators. When we plug every gap with structure, content, or stimulation, we rob them of the chance to figure out what they actually want to do. Overscheduling and over-stimulation leaves no space for imagination or innovation.
The result? A generation of busy kids with blank minds.
Let them be bored!
Boredom isn’t a void. It’s a doorway. And who knows what they might find on the other side!
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