Infants are individuals unto themselves. Artists and creative people, whether they are painters, musicians, writers, architects, designers, or philosophers, have by definition embraced and honed their individuality and express a unique vision to the world. If an infant can begin to spend time gazing at, listening to, and later touching and examining what interests him in his surroundings, rather than being forced to see and hear a mobile above his face every time he wakes up, or a rattle being shaken in front of him, then he has a better chance of staying in touch with his own unique essence. Janet Lansbury, Blue Sky Thinking
This short two minute video clip was recorded today during a play session that lasted for over an hour. R., who is five months old, peacefully and contentedly chose to explore and manipulate a piece of wax paper, forever challenging the notion that babies get bored easily, have short attention spans, need to be entertained, or need expensive and fancy toys to stimulate them. Enjoy!
I totally agree that kids don’t need a ton of gizmos and that boredom is hardly something they would naturally experience. I’ve seen it though where kids grow up with so much outside entertainment that they need more and more stimulation to enjoy themselves, whereas other kids are totally fine playing with toy figurines or crayons.
Hi Nina! Yes, often what adults perceive to be boredom in young children is actually over stimulation, or tiredness. Very often, adults project boredom unto children, when it’s really the adult that is bored! We have to try to remember that to a young baby or toddler, literally everything they are experiencing is always new.