Things to Do When You’re Bored: 270 Ideas + a Free Boredom-Buster Tool

“I’m BORED.” Three little words that strike fear into every parent’s heart. The good news: boredom is actually a gift. It’s the empty space where creativity, curiosity and self-direction grow. The bad news: when your kid is bouncing off the walls demanding entertainment, the philosophy lecture isn’t going to land.

That’s why we built the Boredom Buster at the top of this page. Tap the giant button, answer 4 quick questions, and your child gets a perfect activity — matched to where they are, how old they are, what mood they’re in, and how much time they have. There are 270 hand-picked activities in the bank, and the tool tracks how many “boredom busts” your kid completes (the streak counter is suspiciously motivating).

Below the tool, you’ll find every single activity organized by category — so if your child is bored in the car right now and the tool isn’t handy, scroll to the In the Car section and pick one. We’ve broken the list into 10 sections covering every scenario from “stuck in class daydreaming” to “rainy Saturday morning with three friends sleeping over.”

A note on screens: you’ll notice nothing on this list requires a tablet, phone, or game console. That’s on purpose. Screen-free boredom busters build attention, creativity and patience — qualities that get harder to grow once a kid learns that the boredom-cure is always a swipe away. (That said, a few activities suggest looking up a yoga video or a magic trick on YouTube. Pick your battles.)

50 Things to Do When You’re Bored at Home

The “at home” category gets searched 40,910 times every month on Google — by far the most popular version of “I’m bored.” Here are 50 ideas guaranteed to bust home boredom, tested on real kids:

1. Build a pillow fort. Use every pillow, blanket and cushion. Bonus points for a secret entrance.
2. Have a living-room dance party. Crank up a favorite song and try a new dance move every 30 seconds.
3. 30 jumping jacks against the clock. Time yourself. Try to beat it tomorrow.
4. Plank champion challenge. Hold a plank as long as you can. Compete with siblings.
5. Floor is lava. Get from one side of the room to the other using only pillows, chairs and rugs.
6. Indoor obstacle course. Use chairs, cushions and tape. Time each lap.
7. Stuffed animal bowling. Line up 10 plushies and roll a soft ball to knock them down.
8. Balloon keep-up. Blow up a balloon. Don’t let it touch the ground. Highest combo wins.
9. Yoga pose practice. Try 5 poses: tree, downward dog, cobra, warrior, child’s. Hold each 30 seconds.
10. One-foot balance test. Eyes closed. How long can you stand?
11. Make a comic book. Fold 4 pages of paper. Draw a 4-panel comic with speech bubbles.
12. Homemade slime. With a grown-up’s help, mix glue, water and contact-lens solution. Pure magic.
13. Design your dream bedroom. Slide? Pet octopus? Pool? No rules.
14. Paper plane world record. Fold 5 designs. Race them across the room.
15. Sock puppet show. Turn lonely socks into puppets with buttons and yarn, then perform.
16. Friendship bracelet. Braid 3 strands. Give it to someone special.
17. Origami crane. Watch a tutorial. Practice until yours is perfect.
18. Vision board. Cut magazine pictures of things you want to do or be. Glue them on cardboard.
19. Self-portrait without looking. Draw yourself in a mirror, never looking at the paper. Hilarious.
20. Marble run. Use toilet paper rolls, tape and paper to build a marble run on a wall.
21. Make a paper crown. Decorate with markers, glitter and stickers. Wear it all day.
22. Decorate cookies. Six different designs minimum.
23. Make a music video. Pick a song. Plan a lip-sync with dance moves and costumes.
24. Paint rocks. Find smooth rocks, wash them, paint them like animals or with kind messages.
25. Time capsule. Fill a shoebox with letters, drawings, photos. Open it in one year.
26. Make your own board game. Draw a board on paper. Make rules. Test it with family.
27. Decorate a pencil case. Washi tape, stickers and markers.
28. Paper snowflakes. Fold and cut. No two alike. Tape them to your window.
29. Card tower. How tall before it collapses?
30. Fairy door. Tiny door from popsicle sticks. Place against a wall — maybe a fairy will move in.
31. Read a chapter. Pick a book you’ve been meaning to read. Just one chapter. Cozy spot, blanket.
32. Start a journal. Three things that happened today, three things you’re grateful for.
33. Mood playlist. 10 songs that match your current mood.
34. Tea party. Hot chocolate or tea with a grown-up’s help. Fancy cup. Sip slowly.
35. Speed-organize your room. Set a 15-minute timer. Tidy as much as you can.
36. Color a mandala. Color a complicated design until you feel peaceful.
37. Write a letter to grandma. Tell her 3 things you love about her.
38. Plan your dream vacation. Pick anywhere in the world. Plan it day by day.
39. Stretch and breathe. Stretch every part of your body slowly. Take 5 deep breaths.
40. List 50 things you love. Big or small. Pizza? Sunsets? Your dog? Write them all.
41. Crossword or Sudoku. Find one online or in a book. Time yourself.
42. Learn 5 words in another language. Spanish? French? Japanese? Hello, thanks, please, yes, no.
43. Memorize a poem. Find a short one you love. Read it 5 times. Recite from memory.
44. Tongue-twister practice. “She sells seashells by the seashore” 10 times fast.
45. Magic trick master. Look up a YouTube tutorial. Practice 20 times. Perform at dinner.
46. Bake mug cake. Three-minute microwave dessert. Ask a grown-up for help.
47. Bake banana bread. Real bake from scratch. The whole house smells incredible.
48. Homemade pizza. Pick weird toppings. Pineapple? Cookies? Why not.
49. Fruit salad art. Arrange fruit on a plate like a face or flower or rainbow.
50. Smoothie inventor. Blend fruit, yogurt, juice. Invent it. Name it. Drink it.

If you’re looking for printable activity charts to track which of these your kids try, our activity charts for kids section has dozens of free printables to download.

30 Things to Do When You’re Bored With Friends

When friends are over, the energy shifts — and so do the games. These are the classics, plus a few new ones:

1. 20 Questions. One person thinks of something. Everyone else gets 20 yes/no questions.
2. Kind Truth or Dare. Truth or dare — but ONLY kind dares. Sing a song, share a memory. Be nice.
3. Two Truths and a Lie. Say 3 things — 2 true, 1 false. Others guess the lie.
4. Charades tournament. Act out 20 movie or book titles. No talking, no pointing.
5. Freeze dance. Music plays, everyone dances. Music stops, everyone freezes.
6. Simon Says. Old-school, never gets old.
7. Sardines hide-and-seek. One person hides. As people find them, they hide WITH them. Last seeker loses.
8. Karaoke battle. Set up YouTube karaoke. Stuffed animals as judges.
9. Would You Rather. Make them weird. Eat pickles for a year OR talk in rhyme forever?
10. Indoor scavenger hunt. 15 items to find: something blue, soft, old, tiny. Race.
11. Telephone whisper game. Sit in a circle. Whisper a sentence around. Compare start and end.
12. Pillow fight tournament. Soft pillows. No face hits. Best of 3 rounds.
13. Friendship bracelet swap. Each person makes one, gives it to a different friend.
14. Dance battle. Take turns showing your best move. Others judge 1–10.
15. Cookie decorating contest. Funniest cookie wins.
16. Hot potato plush. Pass a stuffed animal to music. Whoever’s holding it when music stops does a silly task.
17. Stargazing. Lie on the floor or grass. Look up. Make up new constellations.
18. Matching outfit raid. Each person dresses in matching styles. Photo. Memories.
19. “I’m going on a picnic.” A, B, C… each person adds an item and remembers the whole list.
20. Story Cube. Roll a die. Each number triggers a story prompt. Tell a story together.
21. Detective game. Pick a “mystery” (who ate the last cookie?). Investigate. Solve.
22. Make a secret handshake. Minimum 5 moves. Practice until it’s automatic.
23. Cup stacking race. Plastic cups. Pyramid. Knock down. Fastest time wins.
24. Body letters. Use your bodies to spell letters or words. Photograph from above.
25. Make a mini movie. Plan, film, edit a 1-minute movie. Genre: anything.
26. Mirror match. Face each other. One moves slowly. The other copies exactly.
27. Plan a heist (the nice kind). Plan a surprise for a sibling or parent. Step by step.
28. Make your own sport. Invent the rules, the equipment, the goal. Play.
29. Bored-Buster bonus. Pick the weirdest activity on this whole page. Do it together. Twice.
30. Imitate each other. Pick a friend (kindly!). Imitate the way they walk and talk. See if they guess who.

For sleepovers specifically, jump to our sleepover ideas section below — different vibe entirely.

25 Things to Do When You’re Bored in Class

Stuck staring at the clock? These activities are notebook-friendly, no-noise, and won’t get you a detention slip (most of them, anyway):

1. Secret code notes. Make up A=1, B=2 codes. Write friends a note they have to crack.
2. Sticky-note origami. Tiny flowers and stars folded from sticky notes.
3. Margin doodle masterpiece. Tiny scene in the margin. Add detail every minute.
4. Fancy signature practice. Sign your name 20 ways. Find your real signature.
5. Dream pet names list. Names for a hamster, tiger, turtle, dragon, parrot.
6. Weekend master plan. Plan your perfect weekend hour by hour.
7. Story sentence-by-sentence. Each sentence has to start with the last word of the previous one.
8. Constellation sticky note. Tiny stars. Connect them into a NEW constellation. Name it after yourself.
9. Hand-traced animal. Trace your hand. Turn it into a turkey, peacock or octopus.
10. Haiku about being bored. 5-7-5 syllables. The irony is delicious.
11. Count the ceiling tiles. Then the lights. Then seconds left in the hour.
12. Words that rhyme with “cat.” Now try “orange.” (Sneaky.)
13. Story using only emojis. 10 emojis, in order, tell a complete tale.
14. Dream Halloween costume. No budget limit. Draw it. Label every detail.
15. Tiny paper boat. Fold from notebook paper. Test float in bathroom sink later.
16. Paper football. Flick across the desk between someone’s fingers. Score touchdowns.
17. Paper fortune teller. Fill with silly predictions. Test on classmates at lunch.
18. Hand lettering your name. 10 ways. Bubble, curvy, blocky. Find your favorite.
19. Make a maze on paper. Complicated. Make sure there’s ONE solution. Give to a friend.
20. Trace your shoe. Decorate it with a tiny world inside.
21. Backwards spelling bee. Spell 10 words backwards in your head.
22. Word search maker. Pick a theme. Build a puzzle. Trade with a friend.
23. Plan your dream treehouse. Multi-level? Zipline? Pizza maker? Label every feature.
24. Random act of kindness plan. Plan one nice thing to do for someone in your class.
25. Color-coded notes. Re-do your notes with a color system. Suddenly: legible.

Teachers usually appreciate the quiet, focused versions of these. The paper football might be pushing it.

25 Things to Do When You’re Bored at Night

For those nights you can’t sleep, or after-bedtime restlessness, or just winding down — gentle, quiet, lights-off-friendly:

1. Count the stars. Out your window. Lose count? Start over.
2. Constellation map. Look up real constellations. Find the Big Dipper.
3. Bedtime story to yourself. Whisper a story in the dark. You’re the hero.
4. Read by flashlight. One chapter. Cozy.
5. Mood playlist with eyes closed. 10 songs. Notice every note.
6. Guided meditation. A 5-minute kids’ meditation on your phone.
7. Count your blessings. List 10 in your head. Picture each. Sleepy magic.
8. Shadow puppets. Flashlight on the wall. Bunny, dog, bird, bat.
9. Whisper-sing your favorite song. Soft and silly.
10. Plan your dream tomorrow. Picture it in detail. Fall asleep smiling.
11. In-bed full body stretch. Tense then relax every part. Toes to face.
12. Box breathing. In for 4, hold 4, out for 4. Repeat 10 times. Sleep trick.
13. Gratitude journal. Three good things from today.
14. Write a worry letter. Write down what’s keeping you up. Close the notebook. Better.
15. Listen for sounds. How many different sounds can you hear from your bed? Try to find 10.
16. Picture your safe place. Imagine somewhere you feel completely safe. Walk through it.
17. Body scan. Notice each part of your body, head to toes. Relax each one.
18. Slow color visualization. Picture each color of the rainbow filling your room.
19. Affirmation list. Whisper 10 nice things about yourself.
20. Story from a star. Pick one star. Make up its life story.
21. Plan a self-care morning. What would tomorrow morning look like if it was perfect?
22. Letter to your future self. A note to read in 5 years. Seal it. Hide it.
23. Hum a lullaby. Or invent one.
24. Notice 5 things in the dark. What can you see, hear, feel, smell, almost taste?
25. Counting backwards from 1,000. You won’t make it past 800.

Combine these with our bedtime routine charts for kids to build a wind-down ritual that actually sticks.

25 Creative Things to Do When You’re Bored

For the kid whose default is “make something.” These activities all create something you can keep, share, or display:

1. Make a comic book. Mini 4-panel comic about your day.
2. Sock puppet show. Buttons, yarn, markers, performance.
3. Origami crane. Practice until perfect.
4. Vision board. Cut, paste, dream.
5. Build a marble run on the wall. Toilet paper rolls, tape, paper.
6. Paint rocks. Animals or kind messages.
7. Make your own board game. Board, pieces, rules, playtest.
8. Time capsule. Open in one year.
9. Paper snowflakes. Window decoration.
10. Card tower. How tall before collapse?
11. Fairy door. Popsicle sticks. Mystery move-in.
12. Friendship bracelet. Braid and gift.
13. Music video. Plan, costume, lip-sync, film.
14. Bake & decorate cookies. Six designs minimum.
15. Stuffed animal photoshoot. Fancy angles, captions.
16. Make a mini garden. Egg cartons. Seeds. Watch them grow.
17. Decorate toast. Cream cheese, fruit, sprinkles. Edible art.
18. Make a self-care box. Decorated shoebox. Fill with cheer-up items.
19. Hand-traced animal art. Trace, transform, decorate.
20. Hand lettering practice. Pick a word. Write it 10 ways.
21. Body tracing superhero. Tape paper together. Lie down. Decorate as superhero.
22. Make a wish jar. Daily good thing on a slip. Read in a year.
23. Make a tiny world on a tray. Sticks, rocks, leaves, figurines.
24. Calligraphy. Marker + look up alphabets online.
25. Make confetti. Hole-punch colored paper. Save for someone’s birthday.

25 Productive Things to Do When You’re Bored

For the kid (or teen) who feels guilty about being bored. Productive in the good way — building skills, building habits, building character:

1. Help make dinner. Wash, stir, set the table.
2. Speed-clean your desk. 10-minute timer. Go.
3. Laundry race. Race to fold the neatest pile.
4. Water all the plants. Talk to them. They like it.
5. Organize ONE drawer. Take everything out. Wipe. Replace what you need.
6. Make your bed like a hotel. Fancy fold, fluffy pillows.
7. Learn 5 new words. Use them in real sentences.
8. Practice cursive. Your name. Friends’ names. Your favorite snack.
9. Donate toy sort. Pick 5 toys you don’t use. Bag them. Ask a grown-up to donate.
10. Wash one window until it shines. SO satisfying.
11. Learn the capitals. Pick 5 countries. Memorize. Quiz yourself tomorrow.
12. Memorize a phone number. Useful in emergencies.
13. Read a chapter. Build that reading habit.
14. Learn 3 knots. Bow, square, slip. Practice on a shoelace.
15. Practice tying knots. Same energy, different focus.
16. Make a daily routine chart. Stickers or stars. Self-tracking habits.
17. Reverse bucket list. 20 cool things you’ve already done.
18. Write a pep talk to yourself. Read whenever you need a boost.
19. Memorize the first 10 digits of pi. 3.141592653. Then add 5 more.
20. Write yourself a future-self letter. Open in 5 years.
21. Practice a magic trick. Learn one. Practice 30 times. Perform.
22. Practice mindful eating. Eat a snack super slowly. Notice everything.
23. Random act of kindness. Do one nice thing for someone in your house.
24. Plan a surprise for mom or dad. Card, tidied room, breakfast in bed.
25. Send a voice note to grandma. Their day will be made.

25 Things to Do When You’re Bored on a Rainy Day

When the weather has trapped you inside, you need activities with energy and joy — not “read quietly” suggestions. These deliver:

1. Pillow fort with all the pillows. Every pillow. Every blanket.
2. Indoor obstacle course. Time yourself.
3. Living room dance party. Crank it up.
4. Bake banana bread. The whole house will smell like home.
5. Make slime. Pure magic. (Ask a grown-up.)
6. Marathon a stack of books. How many chapters can you read in an afternoon?
7. Sock puppet show. Perform for the family.
8. Floor is lava. Don’t touch the floor.
9. Yoga flow. YouTube video. Full session.
10. Comic book day. Make a 6-page mini-comic.
11. Stuffed animal Olympics. Events, medals, awards.
12. Bake & decorate cookies. Six designs minimum.
13. Time-lapse art. Draw one thing every hour. Compare.
14. Make a vision board. Magazines, scissors, dreams.
15. Card tower competition. Tallest tower wins.
16. Indoor scavenger hunt. Make a list. Race.
17. Tea party with stuffed animals. Real tea. Fancy cup.
18. Build a couch fort. Then read inside it.
19. Family game tournament. Three rounds, three games, declare a winner.
20. Make a music video. Lip sync, costumes, drama.
21. Movie marathon. Pick a theme. Three movies. Snacks.
22. Paint rocks. Plan kindness rocks to hide later.
23. Pajama day. Stay in pajamas. Make breakfast for dinner.
24. Story-writing session. Write a chapter book together. Take turns.
25. Plan a sunny-day adventure. Where will you go the second it stops raining?

25 Things to Do When You’re Bored Outside

For the kid stuck in the backyard, walking in circles, ready for ideas:

1. Cloud watching. Find clouds shaped like animals or letters.
2. Stick fort. Lean long sticks against a tree. Leaves for a roof.
3. Fairy garden. Tiny rocks, sticks, flowers at the base of a tree.
4. Rock collection. Find the 5 coolest. Line them up by size.
5. Flower crown. Twist stems together.
6. Race a leaf. Drop leaves in a stream, gutter or puddle. Fastest wins.
7. Sprinkler sprint. Run through it for 5 minutes. Get gloriously wet.
8. Bubble marathon. Biggest, smallest, longest-lasting bubble.
9. Hopscotch. Chalk on the sidewalk. Hop 10 times without missing.
10. Jump rope 100 times. Try double-unders if it’s too easy.
11. Sidewalk chalk mural. Photograph before it rains.
12. Bug safari. Find 10 different bugs. Don’t touch! Identify.
13. Sundial. Push a stick into the ground. Mark shadows hourly.
14. Nature photo walk. Something tiny, old, colorful, rough.
15. Leaf rubbing. Crayon sideways over paper laid on a leaf.
16. Plant a seed. Watch it grow.
17. Sidewalk sprint. Race yourself end-to-end.
18. Bike the block. Three times. Helmet on.
19. Frisbee trick throws. Behind your back, low, high. 20 in a row.
20. Mini picnic. Snack, blanket, grass. Watch the world.
21. Sandcastle (or dirt castle). Add a moat. Decorate with sticks.
22. Tag. Or chase your shadow.
23. Basketball free throws. 10 in a row. Miss one, start over.
24. Cartwheel practice. On grass. 5 in a row.
25. Hide and seek outside. Stay within sight of a grown-up.

20 Things to Do When You’re Bored in the Car

Road trip salvation. These don’t need anything but your brains and the view out the window:

1. License plate hunter. Spot every state.
2. I Spy. Classic.
3. Alphabet sign game. Find every letter, in order, on signs. Q and Z are brutal.
4. Cow count. Most cows wins. Pass a cemetery, lose them all.
5. Don’t say yes or no. 5 minutes. Trick each other with sneaky questions.
6. Categories. Fruits. Animals. Countries. No repeats.
7. Stories about other cars. Where are they going? Why? Backstory!
8. Car karaoke. Take turns. Dramatic gestures.
9. Animal name chain. Lion → Newt → Tiger → Rabbit.
10. Cloud spotter. Whose cloud looks the most like a llama?
11. Road trip bingo. Make cards before you leave. First to 5-in-a-row wins.
12. Hum that tune. Guess and win.
13. Who am I? Think of a famous person. Yes/no questions to guess.
14. Snack rating. Rate every car snack out of 10. Argue.
15. Travel journal. 3 cool things, 1 funny thing, 1 exciting thing.
16. Story sentence-by-sentence. Each sentence starts with the last word of the previous one.
17. Memory game. “I went on a road trip and packed…” Add an item each round.
18. Spot weird license plates. Personalized ones. What does it mean?
19. Animal yoga (in your seat). Cat stretch, gentle twist. Mini road-trip workout.
20. Plan tonight’s stop. Where will you eat? What will you do?

20 Things to Do When You’re Bored at a Sleepover

The classics, plus a few new ones that actually keep the energy going past 11 PM:

1. Build a giant pillow fort. Every pillow in the house.
2. Movie marathon. Pick a theme. Three movies. All night.
3. Truth or dare (kind dares only). Sing, dance, share a memory.
4. Karaoke night. Set up YouTube. Stuffed animal judges.
5. Charades tournament. Movie titles. No talking.
6. Cookie decorating contest. Funniest cookie wins.
7. Friendship bracelets. Matching pairs.
8. Stargazing. Floor or grass. New constellations.
9. Make a music video. Lip sync, costumes, dramatic angles.
10. Stuffed animal photoshoot. Fancy angles, captions.
11. Dance battle. Best move wins.
12. Mirror match. Face each other. Copy moves slowly.
13. Story Cube. Roll a die. Each number a prompt. Build a story together.
14. 20 Questions. Mind-reading round.
15. Hot potato plush. Music stops? Silly task.
16. Two truths and a lie. Guess the lie.
17. Make matching outfits. Closet raid. Photoshoot.
18. Tell ghost stories with flashlights. Not too scary.
19. Make a movie trailer for your life. Phone + dramatic music.
20. Whisper game. Sit in a circle. Whisper a sentence around. Compare beginning to end.

For tracking sleepover routines (hydrate! brush teeth! actually sleep!), our bedtime routing chart section has free downloadable charts.

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Why Boredom Is Actually Good for Kids

A quick word for parents who feel guilty when their kid says “I’m bored.” Research from psychologists at the University of Central Lancashire and elsewhere keeps finding the same thing: boredom is the precursor to creativity. When kids aren’t constantly entertained, their brains do something amazing — they generate their own ideas. They invent games. They build worlds out of furniture. They draw, write, daydream.

That’s why we built the Boredom Buster the way we did: 4 quick questions, a personalized activity, and then out of the way. It’s a kickstart, not a babysitter. The streak counter and quest badges keep kids engaged enough to actually try the suggestions — but every activity sends them off-screen, into their own imagination, into the real world. Mission accomplished.

If your child is on the cusp of being independent enough to pick their own activity from a list, scroll back up to any section above. Bookmark this page. Next “I’m bored,” send them here.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I do when I’m bored?

Start with our free Boredom Buster tool at the top of this page. It asks 4 quick questions — where you are, how old you are, what mood you’re in, and how much time you have — then gives you a personalized activity from a bank of 270 hand-picked ideas. If the tool isn’t your style, scroll to any of the 10 sections above (at home, with friends, in class, at night, outside, on a rainy day, in the car, at a sleepover, or productive/creative ideas).

What can a 10-year-old do when bored?

10-year-olds tend to love activities with a clear goal or “win condition.” Try the marble run, paper plane world record, building a card tower, learning a magic trick, organizing your room with a 15-minute timer, making your own board game, designing your dream treehouse, or sending a voice note to a grandparent. The Boredom Buster tool above has a “10–12 years” filter that surfaces these automatically.

What are some productive things to do when bored?

Productive boredom-busters fall into three buckets: skill-building (learn 5 new words, memorize a poem, practice cursive, learn 3 knots), home-keeping (organize one drawer, water the plants, make your bed like a hotel, wash a window), and self-development (start a journal, write yourself a pep talk, plan your dream tomorrow, do a random act of kindness). See the full 25 Productive Things section above.

How can I cure boredom without a screen?

Every single one of the 270 activities on this page is screen-free (a handful suggest a YouTube tutorial as a starting point, but the actual activity is always off-screen). Screen-free boredom-busting builds attention, creativity and patience — skills that get harder to grow when kids learn the boredom-cure is always a swipe away. Try a pillow fort, friendship bracelet, comic book, or 30 jumping jacks before reaching for a screen.

What can kids do when bored on a rainy day?

Rainy days call for high-energy indoor activities. Top picks: build a pillow fort with every pillow in the house, indoor obstacle course, sock puppet show, stuffed animal Olympics, make a music video, marathon a stack of books, bake banana bread, set up an indoor scavenger hunt, or have a family game tournament. See the 25 Rainy Day ideas section for the full list.

How long should kids be bored before parents intervene?

Most child psychologists recommend giving kids at least 10–15 minutes of unstructured “I don’t know what to do” time before stepping in. That’s the window where creative thinking actually starts. After that, point them to a tool like this one — but resist the urge to plan their afternoon for them. The goal is to teach them to bust their own boredom, not to be their boredom-buster forever.