[brohoolio]

For my own kids when they are bored there is a flow of requests. First they ask if they can watch TV. Then they ask if they play video games. Then they ask if they can goto a friends house that they like. Then they ask if they can see a neighbor kid who they are kinda meh about. If I keep saying no to all the distractions they typically will enter a complainy phase about how they are bored, but after a bit of boredom they enter a very imaginative state where we can end up with some top tier kid games, the kind you might see on Bluey.

[asielen]

Same exact thing with my 4 year old. We give him very little screen time but it is always the first thing he asks for. Once he (begrudgingly) accepts that he isn't going to get to watch TV and he has to play by himself (if we can't play with him for some reason like coming dinner or taking care of his infant brother) he goes into an amazing creative state where he will play by himself for hours, narrating and creating new games with rules. Or drawing on his easel.

Once he is in the creative zone, he takes charge of his time. He will ask us to help with something and then tell us to go away and then have us come see what he built while he tells us elaborate stories.

There is a kids book called the boring book that captures this process pretty well.

https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-boring-book_shinsuke-yoshi...

[wojciii]

I noticed a similar pattern with mine.

I limit their time with electronic devices (yt kids, games, etc) because it seems that the devices/services are similar to drugs including withdrawal symptoms.

So getting bored just means having to find something to play with. Lego is a good creative way to spend time. Going outside is also preferable to Minecraft ..

[monkeydust]

Sounds very similar to mine, perhaps the process they need to go through to achieve the 'state of boredom' where true creativity can be unlocked.

[dolmen]

> Then they ask if they can goto a friends house that they like.

The friends house where they will get TV or video games.

[brohoolio]

Thankfully the various parents are all pretty good about restricting screen time.

[lupusreal]

Dogs that beg for food are dogs that know they get fed when they beg for food.

[actionfromafar]

Dogs have varying levels of optimism. Some cheerfully begs for food despite a success rate of maybe 1:100.