Most summers, especially this one, parents feel that they have to have something for the kiddos to do every single second of the day and that's just not true. It's not going to hurt the kids to be bored from time to time.
Dr. Nermeen Dashoush, is a mother of two and a Clinical Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education at Boston University says " "I realized more parents needed real-world advice that was also research-proven and practical. Here's mine: It’s OK to do nothing sometimes." What does "Do Nothing" mean? she says in an article on WorkingMother.com that "Doing nothing is breaking away from the notion that you need to schedule every second of the day for your child. It’s healthy to have significant gaps in the day instead of moving from one lesson to another. Focus more on setting up a safe environment that promotes opportunities for exploration (without your participation)"
"But my kids will get bored." ..yes they will but that's ok, "It might be a sign of initial withdrawal from their constant need for you to provide them with something to do. Boredom is healthy and a natural transitional phase that everybody needs to experience." Dr. Dashoush says, "It’s a reality check that life will not be full of playdates and one scheduled event after another. However, if you allow these moments to play out, children will eventually look for things to do and their imaginations will ignite. Early childhood experts agree that allowing for these unscheduled/unstructured periods of time promotes creativity, imagination and independence."
Remember back when we used to play with DIRT? ... and we liked it!