For years, "I'm bored" sounded like an emergency in our house. We would rush to fill the gap: an activity, an outing, a screen.
This summer we tried waiting. Ten minutes of sighing on the sofa, then a cardboard box became a shop, then a spaceship, then a hospital for stuffed animals. The games that come out of boredom are always better than the ones we suggest.
Boredom is not an empty space. It is the waiting room of imagination. Our job is mostly to stay out of the way.
