Family Activity: "What to do when you are bored!" Poster Project

April 30 we held our second webinar in the series, Engage Your Child's Mind During Social Isolation. Week 2 focused on enriching your child's education. 

Our administrators covered much of the "essence of education" and key educator strategies that parents can implement at home. We also talked about how boredom can be used as a tool for good conversations about passions and self-directed learning.

Boredom may be uncomfortable, but it is ok for kids to feel bored. Boredom is an opportunity for you to empower your students and respect their individuality in ways that will help them become strong, independent, self-managing young adults!

All webinar participants were given access to a downloadable worksheet with seven different activities for parents, including the following activity, "What to do when you are bored!" Poster Project. (You can get access to all the activities and webinar replay by registering for the FREE webinar series here.)

Family Activity - "What to do when you are bored!" Poster Project

1. The key to home learning (and your sanity!) is empowering your children to work independently. This communicates that you respect their abilities and personhood. So empower them. What can THEY do about their boredom?
2. Work with your child to come up with a list of their 10 to 20 most favorite things to do. Again, tips for holding a family meeting, might be helpful here!
3. Make sure the activities are varied. Try for a few things in each of the following categories: 
   1. Games / brain activities / puzzles
   2. Physical activities (walk, online exercise tutorials, yoga videos, etc.)
   3. Social activities (phone calls, Zoom lunches, virtual water fights, write letters to loved ones, etc.)
   4. Passion projects (blog, make a movie, create art, DIY something, write a story, teach yourself to code, etc.)
   5. Reading time (Sage Ridge School Suggested Reading Lists by Grade)
   6. For littles: creative play, dress up, imaginary play, blocks, etc. 
4. Make sure that all these activities can be done as independently as possible. Especially for preschool or elementary students,  setting up stations for self-exploration can be very helpful. Most elementary classrooms are set up with ready-to-use stations around the room such as a reading corner, imaginary play area, building area, science toy area, etc. Scale for the age of your children, but making these activities accessible and easy to move between can be a lifesaver and encourages independence. 
5. However you organize the activities and space, make the guidelines for use clear. Walk through how to clean up one activity before moving to the next and practice this daily if needed. 
6. Create a fun visual poster for these "I'm Bored!" activities. There is a reason classrooms are typically covered in posters! Visual queues are important for learners.  For pre-readers, make the poster covered in pictures instead of words. 
   1. If an activity has a time limit - for example, gaming or computer time - put that on the poster as well.
7. Hang the poster (at their eye level, not yours!) in a communal space or where they typically go when they are "bored."

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