Every summer my social media fills up with “100 things to do with kids”, colour-coded activity planners and enough craft supplies to open a branch of Hobbycraft. Meanwhile, I’m just trying to answer one question:
When did letting kids make their own fun become bad parenting?
I don’t remember my mum feeling guilty because I wasn’t making slime by 9am. She wasn’t searching Pinterest for “low-prep sensory activities.” She certainly wasn’t filling a £60 boredom box every Monday.
Most days she just opened the back door and said…
“There you go.”
We Weren’t Actually Bored
People love saying… “We were bored in the 90s.”
Were we though? Because I remember:
- Spending four hours trying to perfect a cartwheel.
- Making perfume out of weeds and muddy puddles.
- Riding my bike until the streetlights came on.
- Building dens that would collapse after twenty minutes.
- Playing football with jumpers as goalposts.
- Watching ants for reasons I still can’t explain.
- Making potions that definitely weren’t poisonous. Probably.
None of it was organised. None of it cost £80. We just… figured something out.
Kids Don’t Need Constant Entertainment
Somewhere along the line we’ve convinced ourselves that every minute of the school holidays needs to be productive, educational, character-building, or let’s face it – Instagram-worthy.
But let’s be real, children don’t grow because every hour is scheduled – sometimes they grow because nobody tells them what to do for an afternoon.
Boredom isn’t an emergency. It’s actually where imagination usually beginss.
So Your Son Complains Never Complains He’s Bored… Really?
Okay, so my own kid doesn’t often tell me he’s bored, but you can bet your ass if he ever does, it’s usually about seven minutes after we’ve come home from somewhere expensive.
He’s always been pretty good at entertaining himself (the perils of having a working single parent as a mum), but on the odd occasion he does complain he has nothing to do, I simply open the back door and reply… “That sounds like an ish-you.”
And miraculously, within ten minutes he’s:
- built an obstacle course,
- found a football,
- covered himself in mud,
- or invented a game involving sticks that I’ll never understand.
Here’s the Thing: It’s Okay For Kids To Be Bored!
This is the thing that often gets lost in today’s society – the notion that kids being bored isn’t actually a bad thing!
I’m not saying never plan days out, I’m definitely not saying don’t make memories. I’m just saying that not every day has to be an event. Some of my favourite childhood memories aren’t from expensive attractions. They’re from climbing trees, eating ice lollies that melted faster than I could eat them, getting absolutely soaked by a garden hose.
Sometimes the best childhood memories happen because nothing was planned at all.
But if your kid does need a bit of encouragement, here are a few simple, inexpensive, and let’s face it – nostalgic, toys you can shove in the garden so they can’t use having nothing to play with as an excuse:
Our 90s Summer Starter Pack
If you want your kids outside without spending much, these are the things that actually get used:
Pavement Chalk
One bucket of chalk somehow becomes:
- hopscotch
- giant snakes
- obstacle races
- “shops”
- family portraits that make you question your self-esteem.
Water Balloons
Slip ‘N Slide
Peak British optimism.
Will get lots of use during the three sunny days we get each year.
Alternatively you can do what our parents did and chuck us some washing up liquid and a roll of tarp, because if it works, it works.
Sprinkler
Also doubles as a shower on the days where you just can’t be arsed.
We have this super cheap one and it’s provided hours of fun.
Shop SprinklersFootball Goal
Doesn’t need to be expensive.
A cheap pop-up goal is usually enough to occupy half the street.
Shop Football GoalsPaddling Pool
Nothing says British summer quite like inflating a paddling pool while watching dark clouds roll in.
We’ll do it anyway.
Shop Paddling PoolsI won’t bore you with endless recommendations, but we do have a full list of 90s summer toys that have stood the test of time for you to nosey at if you fancy,
So, join me…
So this summer, I hope you’ll join me in aiming for fewer expensive plans, more muddy feet, more scraped knees, more “Muuuuum, look what I made!”
And if my son tells me he’s bored? Good.
That’s usually when the fun starts.
Check out our Instagram post that inspired this blog:
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