Right about now children are celebrating the end of the school year. Recently, my mother, sister and I reminisced, remembering how much we looked forward to the end of the school year when we were young and the beginning of summer vacations. What stood out were some of the family trips taken up north and to the lakes but mostly we remembered the boredom. We also remembered the fun and inventive games that grew out of the boredom. I know that the days when my daughter says she is bored, I feel I need to come up with things for her to do but after reading what some child development experts say about allowing children to be bored, I now embrace her boredom. Since she is only three years old, I still make sure that she has toys and items for make-believe as well as situations and opportunities where her imagination and creativity might flourish but I leave it up to her to discover her talents and passion. According to psychologist, Dr. Vanessa Lapointe, a child needs enough stillness to awaken their sense of self and being. When they sit in the nothingness of boredom, they arrive at an understanding of who they are and awaken their own internal drive to be. I remember when my younger brother was bored, he would look for things in the basement or garage to take apart and tinker with (I made sure that my possessions were well hidden) and today he is an engineer. It seems that what he did when he was bored, was who he was.
“Boredom always precedes a period of great creativity.”
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Summer truly should be about play and ideally, outdoor play. Research tells us that children who engage in play are healthier, happier, more intelligent and more curious. But not all playgrounds offer the same benefits. In recent years, there has been research emerging from the Natural Learning Initiative at North Carolina State University that details the need to embrace natural playgrounds and the many benefits of connecting children with nature. Researchers at the University of Western Australia found that natural playgrounds provide children with more opportunities to develop gross motor skills than typical, pre-fabricated playgrounds do. Natural playgrounds also encourage children to engage all of their senses and stimulate creativity and imagination. So when seeking out a play place for your children, look for those that use natural elements such as wood, stone, sand and water creating natural landscapes where children can climb, dig, build, explore and unleash their creative potential. |
In the meantime, snuggle up and share one of these stories with your child to get in the summertime mood:
Author
We are mom Sandra and daughters Amanda and Kate, all with backgrounds in literacy and education, who want to share our philosophy of taking the basics of life; books, simple toys that encourage play, imagination and creativity, and using cooking and baking to teach math and real life skills to raise happy, inquisitive children. Join us in exploring the old and the new and sifting through the myriad of research to consider what is best for our children.
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