Project: I’m Bored!

Ever wonder how many parents over the years have heard the phrase “I’m Bored!” during the summer months from their child or children?  In this “Project: I’m Bored!”, students research and curate activities to engage children of all age groups to not only prevent boredom, but help promote the developmental areas (PIES). This project is a great end of the year assignment or could even be used as a project for a substitute if you have to be out for day or two! Be sure to read on to learn more…

Set

  • By definition bored means: feeling weary because one is unoccupied or lacks interest in one’s current activity
  • Turn to your neighbor and share a time you were bored.  Now share what you did about it.
  • Have students participate in a “4 Corners” movement and discussion activity. The way it works is like this…you have four corners in your room marked with the following headings:  STRONGLY AGREE, AGREE, DISAGREE, STRONGLY DISAGREE. When each of the statements is projected on the screen, you will proceed to the corner that best represents your opinion. With your likeminded group members, copy the statements onto a piece of paper and add brief bullet point notes justifying your position. These will be used in a group discussion later.  After all of the statements are projected, students will combine groups.  For example, the strongly agree group will combine with the agree group and merge ideas by adding to or taking away from the notes for each statement. The same will be done with the disagree side.
  • In the class discussion or debate, opinions will be shared from each group. Since statements for this activity were curated around some articles, documentation can be shared to show what the research is saying. Articles used include:  “5 Surprising Benefits of Letting Your Children Get Bored” and “Boredom Isn’t a Bad Thing for Kids“.
  • In your opinion, is boredom a good or bad thing for children?  Again, turn to your neighbor and share before discussing as a class set this up as a Collins writing prompt is your school encourages that.

Materials

  • iPads or Laptops
  • Projector & Screen

Activities

  • Assign students to groups of four if possible and then go over the “I’m Bored” project guide sheet.
  • Student groups can decide the platform method they wish to use for this assignment.  I have them choose between Padlet and Google Slides, however, there are other possibilities such as pamphlets, brochures or infographics that could be substituted.
  • After students have curated their activities, have them share ideas for each age group with the class.  This can be done in an oral presentation, or even set up as a gallery walk depending on how your do it.

Attachments

 

Photo by Natalie Bond

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