Benefits of boredom

Ewa | Aug 02, 2026Jul 31, 2026

LESSON OVERVIEW

The main objectives of this reading worksheet about boredom are to:

• read excerpts of an article about children being bored;
• discuss monotonous moments and boredom;
• review useful verbs for the discussion.

Students talk about their experiences with boredom, review verbs for discussing the topic (e.g. offer, suggest, deal with) and share their opinions. They read parts of an article about the benefits of kids being bored, debate parenting now and in the past and reflect on things parents can do to help their children deal with boredom.

WARM-UP AND READING PRACTICE

This reading worksheet about boredom starts with a warm-up. Students examine sentences about boredom (e.g. I hate boredom.), choose one which is true for them and add details. Afterwards, they match statements involving various situations. Next, students read definitions and identify useful words (e.g. complain, avoid, consider) in the sentences from the previous task. After that, they say which activities and situations mentioned in the sentences from the previous exercise are boring. Students explain why they think so. They then list boring activities or situations not mentioned. Following that, students read the first part of an article about boredom in childhood and choose the best summary. Moving on, they read the part of the article again and answer questions about parents keeping children busy. 

MORE READING AND DISCUSSION

In this part of this reading worksheet about boredom, students discuss their experiences, parenting changes over time and the benefits of boredom. They then read the second part of the article and choose the best words to complete the gaps. Next, students read comments involving monotonous moments. They find a benefit of boredom mentioned in the text from the previous exercise. Then, students say whether they have ever experienced similar benefits and share details. Afterwards, they read the final part of the article and complete the gaps with sentence endings. Following that, students add one more thing parents can do to help their children deal with boredom. Moving on, they look at some comments about the article and complete the gaps with the target words from the lesson. Finally, students choose the statements from the previous task that are true for them, explain and add details.

HOMEWORK/REVISION

This reading worksheet about boredom also includes an additional task that you can use as homework or revision. In the task, students complete the gaps to create words in sentences about different feelings. They then replace parts of the sentences with their own ideas. The task is available in the teacher’s version of the worksheet. You can print it and hand it out to your students. It’s also included in the e-lesson plan.

WORKSHEETS

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