Super Simple Ways To Avoid Boredom

This is NOT another blog encouraging you to make the most of this time to landscape your garden or teach the kids a language. These are simple, effort free tips that will help alleviate the boredom of these long days locked inside.

It’s so difficult to sum up how we are all feeling at the moment. I’m finding I have periods when I feel strong and determined to make the most of this unforeseen life-changing experience we are all going through. I feel inspired to make the most of having more time with my family, to work hard to develop my business, to clean out the cupboards and plant a herb garden.

I am also having times when it’s just all too much. As soon as I begin to think ahead, to consider the suffering many people are dealing with right now, I want to sit in a corner and cry. During these times, if I read an article encouraging me to take this time to learn a musical instrument or teach my children how to cook, I want to throw my phone across the room.

I guess the answer to both of these feelings is - that’s totally fine. It’s OK to be feeling strong and “zen-like” in one moment and then wanting to scream at the whole world (and quite possibly your family) the next moment. There is also a middle ground, and although I am not great at “middle grounds”, I am trying to find mine. This is when we may not have the energy or patience to set up a “slime creation station” right now, but do want to do offer something to keep ourselves and our families from going insane. Here are a few really simple ideas that you might find helpful over the coming………(days, weeks, months??).

Blow Up Balloons

For my son’s 15th birthday a couple of weeks ago, I filled his room with balloons for when he came home from school. The surprising result of the balloons floating around the house is that they have now become a never-ending source of entertainment. Balloon cricket, balloon tennis, hitting your sister with a balloon……the games are endless. There is no need to facilitate these games, just blow up some balloons and leave them lying around. The kids will work it out themselves.

Create riddles for Grandparents / relatives

This project helps to keep both us and our extended family amused. Each day we all need to come up with a riddle (we can try to come up with our own, however, we usually resort to google. Remember, we are going for “middle of the road” effort). We then FaceTime the grandparents and see how long they take to work out the riddles.

Hold plank challenges

If everyone is getting restless, call them all together and hit the floor for a plank challenge. You are going to get at least a minute of exercise in and it often settles everyone down. You could set up a plank challenge leaderboard, but remember we are not trying to overachieve here.

Try some minute to win it games

There are hundreds of these on the internet and when you find the right ones, they can keep your gang amused for a long period of time. I like some of the examples in this YouTube clip, although the first one seems sacrilegious at a time when tissues are like gold. The game called Separation Anxiety (at about 6:50 minutes in) seems eerily relevant.

Put aside a “whatever” space

At a time when all 5 of us are here at home all day, every day, it can be stressful trying to keep everything tidy. I’m someone who loves order (duh! I hear you saying) and having things all over the place increases my stress levels. So we have created a “whatever“ space in our house (we are using the outdoor undercover deck) which I am completely ignoring. We have placed a big plastic mat on the ground and there is currently containers of slime, glue, sparkles, paint and plates lying around. You could use a spare room, a corner in the garage, or even your kids’ bedrooms. Allow there to be a space where games, mess and paraphernalia can stay lying around. If possible, avoid it all together, or if you can’t, just shrug and say “whatever”.

SET UP A jigsaw puzzle

Jigsaw puzzles can be a great distraction for idle minds. If you have an area where it can stay out, family members can just do a piece or two every time they wander past. You can purchase a piece of plywood from Bunnings and do the puzzle on the board, then it can be moved around the house if the table needs to be used.

Cook Things That Need Oven or Stove Time

Finally, I have to sneak in a little “personal trainer” suggestion here and say that now is a great opportunity to try out some new healthy recipes. Even if you don’t have more time to spend physically in the kitchen (I know many of us are still busy trying to manage jobs and / or home schooling), while we are at home we can try out recipes that require longer cooking times. Slow cooked meals in the oven, soups that need to simmer for long periods of time, baking banana bread, roasting veggies, these things don’t take long to prepare, but need time in the oven or on the stove. Here are a couple of suggestions:

Roast Beetroot Puree

Lentil and Kale Stew

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

Banana Pear Bread (my kids love this one!)

Keep going guys. We can get through this. xx

by Angie Black