Unbored – A zillion ways for kids to keep busy and engage with life

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So this is like a kid version of “Morton’s List”?
"Morton’s List: The End to Boredom! "

When we were kids, my friend’s family had a set of Childcraft books that we would skim through to find something to do.

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Isn’t it ok to be bored every once in a while?

Yeah - it also struck me as a little odd that a kid would need a book of ideas to think of something to do. Sometimes it’s the boredom that leads to new ideas.

Not that I don’t think this book looks cool. It does.

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No, not anymore.

Klytus, I’m bored. What play thing can you offer me today?

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…at which time she became bored with Unbored.

If a kid tells you that they’re bored, tell them to go clean their room - or mow the lawn or do the laundry or some other chore.

If nothing else, they’ll stop coming to you with their complaints of boredom.

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I’m bored…Here, let me give you something to cry about.

Nothing wrong with being bored. Think of it as a break from the relentless and shallow over-stimulation of modern life.

I see that a number of commenters are focusing on the title of the book and taking aim at the notion that kids not be bored. It is true to a certain degree that people need to learn to cope with boredom before they can be most creative and also there’s nothing more boring than a person complaining that they’re bored (how boring). But beyond the title, I love books with lists of things to do! This book will likely occupy many-a cabin, rainy day apartment, classroom bookshelf, and family library. I like to think that the opposite of boredom is not entertainment, per se, but rather engagement. Meaningful engagement is the sweet spot, and judging from the preview pages shown here, I bet there are some good ones for quite a few kids.

That said though, I did notice the author/s used the “10,000 hours to become an expert” saw on the “Train Your Grown-ups to stop saying You’re Awesome” page. This “practice makes perfect” trumpet – most blared with Malcolm Gladwell “play 12 anecdotes to make a general rule” style – has been debunked: http://www.fastcodesign.com/3027564/asides/scientists-debunk-the-myth-that-10000-hours-of-practice-makes-you-an-expert

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