Why boredom is important for your child's development with Susie Allison

Why boredom is important for your child's development with Susie Allison

Released Monday, 21st April 2025
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Why boredom is important for your child's development with Susie Allison

Why boredom is important for your child's development with Susie Allison

Why boredom is important for your child's development with Susie Allison

Why boredom is important for your child's development with Susie Allison

Monday, 21st April 2025
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Boredom is not a problem to solve but an essential skill children must develop for emotional regulation and creative thinking. When parents constantly entertain their children or rescue them from boredom, they unintentionally prevent crucial developmental growth. In today's replay episode (this is the second most downloaded episode of our podcast!) I chat with Susie Allison, founder of Busy Toddler with over 2 MILLION followers.

• Boredom is where creativity, problem-solving, and intrinsic motivation are born
• Children as young as babies can practice independent play when parents allow them space
• "Boredom busters" should be avoided - instead, honor the emotion but don't rush to fix it
• Screen time should be a predictable, scheduled tool for parents, not a boredom solution for kids
• Play shouldn't always involve adults - independent, unstructured play is where deep learning happens
• Start small with independent play - use a visual timer for young children to understand timeframes
• Creating the right environment with fewer, more intentional toys helps children engage independently
• Neurodivergent children may need different approaches to handling boredom
• Child-led play means letting children determine how they use toys without adult interference
• Expensive toys aren't necessarily better - simple household items often make the best play materials

Try the Reflective Parent Club for free for seven days to build emotion regulation skills and join our supportive community. Visit CuriousNeuron.com to access resources and learn more about supporting your child's emotional development.

Learn more from Susie on Instagram

https://busytoddler.com/

Search for a past podcast episode or guest:

https://curiousneuron.com/podcast/

Want to join The Reflective Parent Club?

If you are ready to learn healthy emotional coping skills and to get support on. how to teach your child these skills, join below or book a call with me below:

https://curiousneuron.com/reflective-parent-club/

Book a call with me:
https://calendly.com/curious_neuron/intro-chat-for-1-1-coaching


FREE WORKBOOK: Why do I feel triggered by my child's emotions and behaviours?

https://tremendous-hustler-7333.kit.com/f9fd208c09

FREE ACTIVITY FOR KIDS: Help! My emotions are confusing to me!

https://tremendous-hustler-7333.kit.com/c6701d059a


Please leave a rating for our podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! Email me at info@curiousneuron.com and I will send you our most popular guide called Meltdown Mountain.

Join me on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/curious_neuron/

Join our Facebook group called Reflective Parenting:
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Reflective Parenting by Curious Neuron

A parenting podcast that doesn't tell you HOW to parent your own child. We teach you how to think during parenting challenges and help you build emotional intelligence skills to lower your stress and help you cope with those challenging emotions that come with parenting.Neuroscientist, Dr. Cindy Hovington can help you parent your child with confidence and feel competent by helping you understand your triggers, recognize and break your emotional patterns and teach you how to model healthy emotional coping skills for your child. Cindy is the founder and CEO of Curious Neuron, is an internationally recognized emotional well-being resource for parents with their evidence-based educational content being consumed in over 70 countries! She is a leading thought expert in emotion regulation and parental well-being as well as an international speaker on well-being and emotional development in children. The goal of this podcast is to help parents gain awareness of their emotional triggers, build your confidence as a parent, understand how their past influences behavioural patterns they can stuck in and help them learn how to model healthy emotional coping skills for their children. We do this by discussing the science of emotional intelligence and effective parenting practices. Join us every Monday for conversations with leading researchers and best selling authors in parental well-being, childhood adversity, attachment, emotional development, stress management and emotion regulation skills. Past guests include Dr. Bruce Perry, Dr. Marc Brackett and best-selling authors Dr. Ramani Durvasula and Stephanie Harrison.Join me and become a Reflective Parent! Subscribe today not to miss next week's episode! To learn more from Curious Neuron or to join The Reflective Parent Club, visit www.curiousneuron.com.Follow us on Instagram @curious_neuron. 

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