It's GOOD for children to experience boredom...

It is good for children to be able to take steps themselves to avoid boredom, and not to be entertained every waking hour by doting parents/grandparents or electronic games invented for the sole purpose of entertaining them (or perhaps for the sole purpose of selling to them). The world is bigger than that.

With a house full of objects and books and a garden full of plants, earth and beasts, they don't need wall-to-wall bottle-fed artificiality. A little goes a long way.

Electronic games are stimulating and entertaining, and have their place, but they don't match books for adding subtle characters, word-play, different styles and ideas from different authors, knowledge of cultures and customs outside a child's own experience - and that is just fiction. Non-fiction has facts about everything in the world, and a page can be returned to again and again to identify an insect found in the garden, or find out more about a topic that has engaged interest.

What wise words Elegran and beautifully put.

Well, this doting granny is a firm believer in kids having it all to hand. Why not, if you can? Most (un-deprived) children's bedrooms are stuffed full of a wide range of interesting things. Long may it continue.

Oh God! Make some contribution yourself! Don't just come on to applaud your mates.

Oooooh! I am someone's mate! News to me, but so exciting!

Oh come on, jings. Can't anyone agree with a post without being shot down for it? People do praise your posts from time to time, you know.

It's the 'same old, same old'.

There are many households who dont have a garden, few books, and sometimes not that many objects in it either.

They probably do have electronic gadgets and tvs.
[I am generalising I know].

It is not so easy to occupy yourself if you are a child in a flat or bedsit like that, without resorting to the gadgets.

[jingl, I dont think that the site is all that cliquey really. And it is obvious when it starts to head that way.]

You are my mate Elegran.

But you have been on here longer than me, so perhaps you see things that I dont see.

You are my mate too soon.

! I forgot the soz

Time to get this lazy arse moving methinks.

Jbf. I was simply agreeing with someone who expressed exactly what I feel, but expressed it.much better than I would have done. I get quite cross with DD1 who spends all her spare time taking my grandson to rugby, football, swimming club, and he's not a muscular teenager, he's just 2 yrs and 10 months. Their garden is littered with every imaginable fixed plaything, and their living room, plus his bedroom, are spilling over with toys. Apart from the above-mentioned stimulants he is always being taken to playgrounds, children's events, e.g. Thomas, and Peppa Pig world. When I do get to see him I sit him down quietly and read to him, or teach him songs with funny actions and he just loves that. I get him to tell me a story in his limited vocabulary and we look at flowers and butterflies and everyday things. So I think his mum does overstimulate him and he seems to love quiet time with his gran and grandad.
Elegran is not my mate ! We've never met, but I do enjoy reading her intelligent posts as opposed to the rather more rude and wind-up ones, although I think they are posted to get a reaction jbf, which they usually do! I know you have a kind heart though!

I enjoy reading intelligent posts too, and I prefer wind ups to the blatantly sycophantic any day.

Though I have been known to agree with jingl's once.

i think

Thank you jingl.

Fair enough Bellanonna.

You are wrong about me though. I only ever say what I truly feel. Never to just wind people up. Could never be arsed to do that.

My solution - along with masses of books in the GC's room - has always been a big sandpit. It becomes a planet, a town, a garden, countries at war, a fashion parade. Plus gets them out of 'helping' me when I am trying to prepare dinner for 7 after a day out.

Thanks Jings, I used to be something else on here but can't remember what it was. Back to boredom, I My Grandkids love to help me cook etc; but I don't hassle them into it and if they are on iPads etc; I don't think there is anything wrong with that, I feel nowadays they are always being dragged from here there and back again, so if they switch off and do something apparently mindless they are having a bit of down time and deserve it.

I used to dread the summer hols for that reason, but tried to plan one day a week when we would go on an outing. The rest of the time they would have to entertain themselves, especially if we were at work.
Though in those days children had much more freedom to roam around on their own, ours even went on the train to the coast for the day, the older ones looking after the young ones. Less traffic so no worries about long bike rides etc.
I agree though it's always been more of a problem for very young children.

I always find myself wondering what children are actually saying when they say that they are bored ... talking with them helps, and even showing some interest and simply asking. Interestingly, it was not until she went to school that my 7 yr old GD said she was bored for the first time... when we discussed it, she was in fact complaining about not being able to spend time as she wished. At school it was remarked that she had a short attention span, whilst at home we found she could listen to music intently or watch a ballet for 2 hours with no problem. She could also spend a long time drawing or painting, meditates, and now is an avid reader. I have known 'bored' to be a blanket word for anger or frustration or an avoidance word for being miserable or sad. Always as something worth exploring though.

I think young mums tend to take their toddlers here, there and everywhere these days is because they themselves want to keep in touch with other people. I think that's probably a good thing all round. Better than being stuck at home on their own with young children all the time.

It's not just toddlers. Parents seem frightened to let their children out of their sight these days. Some children just never get the opportunity any more to 'play out'.

Why do children have to be entertained/kept busy every waking hour. Children have wonderful imaginations and left to their own devices and invent their own games and entertainments. There are times when adult intervention is good and also times when being left to themselves is also good.

Our children are away with their mum and stepdad atm. I know they'll be having a great time at an organised holiday camp. They were looking forward to the kid's club, the swimming club, the theatre club and the night time entertainment. Every minute of every day will be organised by a camp entertainer. The holiday won't have come cheap but it's the kind of thing they all enjoy as mum and stepdad like to be entertained too and it makes their life easier if the children aren't around them all the time.

The following week the children are away with us. We'll be camping in a field in the middle of nowhere. There will be no TV or WiFi signal. We're going to go to a nature reserve, a stately home, a castle and a parrot sanctuary. There will be no organised entertainment on the campsite and not everything will be geared up around the children. However the children also love to go on this type of holiday. They love the freedom of camping. They love the history, the scenery, finding things, talking about things, climbing trees, damming a stream and just playing. They don't have many toys with them as there is no room but they make up their own games and play for hours. We also spend time as a family playing Frustration and JackSticks. Talking, laughing and having fun.

The OP asked, "Do children need to be bored?" I think the question should be "Do children need to be organised and entertained every waking hour?" to which I would reply a resounding "No!"

The OP asked 'is it good for children to experience boredom?'

Because I agree that,these days, children's lives are organised to the Nth degree, by adults usually. Some of the activities you've mentioned VQ such as climbing trees, damming a stream are perhaps what we remember from our own childhood. Certainly no adults around to interfere organise us. Remember building dens in the woods? Now it's an organised activity for some.

There is anecdotal evidence that finding your own way out of 'boredom' or 'there's nothing to do' syndrome can fuel creativity.

Another point though....other children. We always sought out other children to complement our games. It's not just the same playing hide and seek, or Cowboys and Indians Native Americans with just your younger sister.

Very few children playing out now with neighbourhood children, mainly 'play dates' (horrible phrase) organised by mum.