POSITIVE Parenting

The young get bored easily as home activities become routine and there is a desire for fun. No need to despair. Beating boredom can be inexpensive and worthwhile.

Raymond Simmonds, a father of three preteens, knows that it is essential to keep the young ones active and out and about. "Sometimes we go to the country and go to the river in St Mary and they take fun in going to Trelawny where my wife comes from," he said. "They go crazy about getting the drive-out and going to the country."

The proud father said that the children go wild with excitement when he and his wife, Gladys, take them out. This breaks the monotony of home in Angels, St Catherine.

He said most of the time, Andrew, 12, Ariel, 9, and Andre, who is five, are more creative than their parents in finding new games, and it's added pleasure when he joins them in their card games. "It's like fun to conquer Daddy in a game, so there are things that they might do over and over, but having Daddy come and sit with them while they are doing it is like an added incentive."

Not every parent is as creative as this dad, in helping the children beat boredom. Kathleen O'Sullivan of Smart Kids' Nursery and Pre-School in St Andrew has some ideas. She said children have a short attention span and this should be taken into consideration when the parents are playing with them. "We have to have different activities for them, as soon as they finish one activity they don't want to be doing the same thing again."

Nursery rhymes

For children ages one to three, she suggested short stories, using excessive facial and body expressions, and singing, which can be used to teach nursery rhymes and numbers.

For four-year-olds and up, O'Sullivan says they can concentrate more, and can watch movies, play with shapes and colours, and do reading, as well as play with building blocks. For five-year-olds, Hillary Whittick, owner of Whittick's Day Care Centre, St Andrew, says they can play similar games to younger children, but this should be more detailed.

"They like to play house with teddy bears, shopping and going to the market," she said. She added, however, that all age groups should be allowed free play as children have different likes and dislikes. Swings, slides and skates and the sand pan add variety. Going to the beach, she said, is a good way of taking out the child, but in the absence of this, an inflatable pool is just as helpful.

Whittick added that play can be incorporated into education and this might increase learning. "Instead of saying 'stop playing and go study book', parents can let the studying be a form of play sometimes."

kimesha.walters@gleanerjm.com