When "I'm Bored" Becomes the Start of Something Brilliant

"I'm bored."

Funny how those two little words can undo all your best intentions for the day. You might have spent the morning at the park. You might have just got back from swimming. Or perhaps you've only just finished clearing up breakfast. Somehow, it doesn't seem to matter. At some point during the summer holidays, most of us are going to hear them.

My first instinct is always to start thinking of ideas. Shall we bake? Get the paddling pool out? Head back to the park? Anything to stop hearing it again five minutes later, but I've noticed something over the years. The things children seem to come back to time and time again aren't always the newest toys or the activities we've carefully planned. More often than not, they're the things that let them make the rules. That's probably why a cardboard box sometimes gets more attention than the expensive toy that came inside it.

We've all bought something we were convinced would be a huge hit, a big trend, only to find it's been abandoned a week later. Not because there was anything wrong with it, but because once they'd discovered everything it could do that was kind of it and they just stopped playing with it. I sometimes wonder if it's not that they've run out of toys. Maybe they've just run out of new ways to play with them.

That's one of the reasons Funphix feels so different. Yes, it's a climbing frame that children build themselves or can build with you, but, that's only half the story. Once they've finished building, that's when the real fun begins. One week it's a climbing frame, the next it's become a café serving imaginary ice creams to anyone who walks past. And then a few days later someone's decided it needs to be an obstacle course, complete with "lava" that nobody is allowed to touch. The pieces haven't changed but the ideas have. And I think that's what keeps children playing with Funphix. They're not waiting for someone to tell them what to build next, they're already imagining it and playing with it.

One of the nicest parts of what we do is seeing what families and children create. We can share ideas and inspiration, but children nearly always surprise us. They'll build something we'd never have thought of because they don't see rules or limitations in the same way that adults do, they just see possibilities. 

It's also lovely hearing from families a few months later after they have bought from us. The messages usually aren't about the build they started with. More often than not, it's, "It's a café now," or, "They've turned it into a zoo this week." Those little updates make us smile because they remind us that Funphix isn't just something children build once. It becomes part of family life, growing and changing as their ideas do. And let's be honest, Funphix isn't an impulse buy. Most parents think carefully before investing in something like this, and rightly so. But when families tell us they're still using it months later, still building together and still coming up with new ideas, it reminds us why we do what we do. It's never just about the climbing frame. It's about giving children something they don't outgrow after the excitement of the first week.

Of course, there are still days when you'll hear "I'm bored" three times before lunch. That's just summer holidays! But having something they can keep coming back to certainly helps and there's something quite satisfying about watching them disappear into a world they've created themselves. You get five minutes to enjoy a cup of tea while they're deciding whether today's build needs a secret tunnel, a lookout tower or somewhere to keep the dinosaurs.

If you're looking for summer holiday activities that keep children active, away from screens and using their imagination, it might not be about finding more things to do. It might simply be about giving them something that grows with their ideas. That's what Funphix has always been about, we don't tell children how to play, we give them the freedom to decide for themselves, to use their imagination, be creative and find another possibility. The best ideas are often theirs, not ours.

If you're looking for something your children will come back to long after the novelty has worn off, take a look at the Funphix range. You might just discover that the best summer adventures don't start with a plan they start with an idea.