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“I’m bored.” We know it’s good for our kids to be bored. It fosters creativity and encourages kids to come up with ideas to fill the time. It also helps prepare kids for the future, because we all know being an adult involves a lot of boring tasks. But it’s not fun to be a parent listening to your kid whine about how bored they are. So here are some ideas to suggest to your bored kid, because sometimes they just need a jumping off point for their imagination.

For little kids, it can be a bit harder for them to engage in totally independent play without needing you for various necessary (or unnecessary) reasons. Some of these ideas do involve parent participation, though I still think it’s helpful to give parents fresh ideas for play.

Be sure to check out Boredom Busters 1 and Boredom Busters 2 for more ideas like crafts, puzzles, building toys, and pretend play.

 Scavenger Hunts

• Indoor: I like to make scavenger hunts for the kids, though this obviously isn’t an independent activity. However, if you do some scavenger hunts so that they know how it works, they can make them for you or for a sibling. My kids have done them for each other, as well as one for me. It’s neat to see; they have to come up with clues, and write them down, and figure out where to hide them to lead to the next clue.

• Outdoor: You can print out free sheets with ideas, or make up your own. You basically just walk around and look for whatever is on your list. For example: an ant, an American flag, a chalk drawing, a yellow flower, etc. This isn’t a solo activity though, unless your kids are old enough to walk around the neighborhood without you.

Outdoor Activities

• Chalk. Write jokes on your driveway (we did this during the pandemic), trace your kid’s body and have them draw the face/clothes, play hopscotch, draw a map, draw lines that you then have to walk on, etc.

• Velcro throw and catch toys, trampoline paddle toys, Frisbee, Skip it and jump rope.

• My kids loved making random “food” dishes out of whatever they found in the yard. “Stew” and “salad” out of dirt/mud, rocks, grass, weeds, etc. They’d find big rocks to serve the food on. Sometimes they’d add some water from the hose. Having a couple buckets is helpful for this activity, or even garden tools or gloves (we used these for gardening) if they end up digging a ton. Just make sure they don’t actually eat their creations!

• Bubbles (and refills). My kids loved chasing after bubbles.

• When it’s warm, water tables are great. This is an activity that little kids can really get into and you could sit nearby with work or a book. I had this one, but this one looks fun, and I love the dino theme one!

• One of my friends has designated toys for outside like figurines, Barbies, cars, etc. I think this is a great idea because then you don’t worry about them getting dirty/wet/ruined because they are exclusively outdoor toys. If you try this, I suggest getting them secondhand or using toys passed along from a friend/family member, so you don’t have to buy double the toys.

Misc.

• Some board games have solo options, but the one I always told me kids to try was solitaire with just a basic set of cards. I taught my kids the clock variation but there are lots of other options.

• Bop It! I completely forgot about this game, and one of my kids got a mini Bop It as a party favor. Right away, I bought a full sized one. My kids love it, though maybe not as much as I do. One of the rare times these days I got to impress my kids, thanks to hours of playing Bop It as a bored kid.

• Write a story or write in a journal. One of my kids is in a big journal writing phase. They have multiple journals and currently love this Harry Potter one.

• Reading of course is a great independent option. Even small children who can’t yet read can enjoy sitting down with picture books. My kids did this all the time, and I would sometimes hear them making up their own stories. Visit my Bookshop.org shop page for multiple book lists for kids.