the bored jar

Ever since Nakiah learned what the word bored meant last year, she has been saying she's bored quite a bit. At first I think it was because it was a new word that described how she was feeling. She would often say I don't know what to do. So I asked her if she was bored. She was happy to know there was a word for how she felt. She is a kid who constantly likes to be on the go. I like to be on the go as well, but we can't be out and about all the time. She also moves from one activity to the next quickly when we're at home. It's been that way since she was around two years old.

I've gotten pretty good at looking for clues as to when she's feeling bored. She'll wander around, go back to the same thing several times, or stand in one spot and look around the room. Soon Ava picked up on bored and now all of a sudden she's bored all the time.They seem to say no to everything I suggest, so I came up with the bored jar.

 
We sat down and came up with a list of things we can do when we feel bored. I need a jar with a wider mouth, but this old applesauce jar works fine for now(see we do recycle!)
I wrote down all of our ideas while the girls folded the paper and dropped each piece into the jar, meanwhile rattling off more ideas to me.

This is how it works, if anyone is feeling bored, or I can tell they are bored, someone picks a piece of paper out of the jar. You don't have to do what the paper says. You can keep drawing until you find something that you would like to do.

Here is our list of activities so far. I'm sure we'll add to the jar as we come up with new ideas.

puzzles

paint

sing

dance

legos

blocks

craft

sensory activities

science experiments

water play(could also go under the previous two options)

color

play outside

make playdoh

card games

read a book

tell a story

the hokey pokey

simon says

red light/green light

play barbies

run

play with Samuel

say or do something silly

play on the computer

hide-n-seek

play dress up

spin in circles

clap our hands

string beads

count pennies

play store

watch new videos

 

I think that's a pretty good list to start with. We've already used the jar, and it looks like it will be a success. We had a good time coming up with ideas for our jar. Kiah said mommy this was a good idea.  

I'm so glad she liked it.

 

Now to work on possibly making a prettier bored jar. This one looks rather....boring.

 

 

 

 

 

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