Everyday fun! Milestones and growing up The Kao Kids

Boredom-inspired creativity

May 21, 2015

When you were a child, what did you do when you were bored?

And what have you become today?

My husband explored and got into trouble. I lay in bed and dreamed up imaginative worlds.

We are big believers of boredom – and we want our kids to get bored, feel bored and experience the frustration associated with it. Have you read this article that correlates boredom with creative thought? We want our children to be forced into solitude and edged into a mode of discovery.

When we first started, it was hard. It was hard for me too, by the way, to NOT structure and plan something for them to do.

So Ben comes and says, “I’m so bored, can I watch TV?”

Becks says, “It’s so boring I don’t know what to do.”

Nat says, “So boring. I want you come be with me.”

And I would say, “Go and find something.”

And after many rounds of being acquainted with boredom, my children have…

Found the guts to leave the confines of our house to peek at what the neighbours are doing. At one point, they even go around to greet them. Now, Ben is offering our neighbour, Aunty R, to throw her trash for 20 cents a day.

Nightly duty: 20 cents for throwing trash!

Nightly duty: 20 cents for throwing trash!

They also invented Running Man games…

Mission: Skate through obstacles in the house with these cloth baskets

Mission: Skate through obstacles in the house with these cloth baskets

Built…

So much fun with LEGO

So much fun with LEGO

And built…

How many minifigs can you see?

How many minifigs can you see?

And built some more…

More LEGO fun

More LEGO fun

And drew…

Nat loves to draw

Nat loves to draw

And made many somethings out of nothing – all because they were bored.

The kids did up a rainforest to welcome me home...

The kids did up a rainforest to welcome me home…

By placing animals everywhere and imagining the green table as a huge tree

By placing animals everywhere and imagining the green table as a huge tree – an excuse for a clever, structured mess

What's happening in the background: caught on camera is the littlest trying to make binoculars from two Yakult bottles!

What’s happening in the background: caught on camera is the littlest trying to make binoculars from two Yakult bottles!

And check out this sword - make entirely from toilet rolls!

And check out this sword – make entirely from toilet rolls!

They learned how to handle boredom and find something to do and exercise that little muscle I call the little creativity joint.

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2 Comments

  • Reply Bumble Bee Mum May 22, 2015 at 4:43 PM

    I love this! Especially the throwing trash part. And I love your Lego collection too!

    • Reply MotherKao June 2, 2015 at 5:45 PM

      Bumble Bee Mum, thanks! Throwing trash is my son’s “burden” every day which earns him 20 cents!

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