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Why I let my kids get bored on summer afternoons

I think letting kids be bored is better than scheduling every minute. It hit me when mine built a fort out of couch cushions instead of asking for the tablet. That messy creativity took me right back to my own childhood summers.

4 comments

4 Comments

victor_lee1mo ago

My daughter Mia is 7 years old. I used to pack her schedule with lessons because I thought busy was better. Then last month, she turned a rainy afternoon into a whole puppet show with socks and a laundry basket. That UNPLANNED creativity showed me more problem-solving than any worksheet. Now I actively leave gaps in our week for that kind of magic. It's hard to step back, but seeing what she builds out of NOTHING is honestly incredible.

jakejones1mo ago

Structured activities actually teach way more than just staring at a wall. My kids' swimming lessons and coding camp build real skills a cushion fort never will. That planned time gives them a routine and goals, which free play just doesn't offer.

lopez.emery22d ago

My friend's son Leo built a whole marble run last summer using just cardboard tubes and tape from the recycling bin. He spent three afternoons figuring out angles and supports to make it work. That kind of trial and error taught him more about physics than his planned science club ever did. The club gave him facts, but the failed ramps and crashes showed him how things actually work. Sometimes the best learning happens when there's nothing on the calendar at all, don't you think?

emma_foster311mo ago

So how do you handle the screen time thing during those boring stretches? Do you just hide the tablets or is there a rule?