Remember summer break when we were kids? No packed schedules, no back-to-back camps, and definitely no color-coded activity calendars. Just bikes, sprinklers, questionable popsicle choices, and hours spent staring at clouds, wondering if that one looked more like a dragon or a potato.
Well guess what? Experts are now saying that kind of summer—what the cool kids (aka the internet) are calling “kid rotting”—might actually be great for your children.
Yes, you heard that right. Letting your kids do a whole lot of nothing this summer might be the parenting win you didn’t know you needed.
Wait, “Kid Rotting”? That Sounds… Gross.
We know, the name is a little unfortunate—like your child is turning into a couch vegetable—but hear us out. “Kid rotting” is just the 2025 way of describing the kind of free, unstructured, semi-feral summers many of us grew up with. Lounging around. Daydreaming. Wandering outside to “see what happens.”
No rigid routines. No pressure to perform. Just pure, old-school boredom.
Now before you panic and start Googling “last-minute STEM summer camps,” take a deep breath. Experts, like psychotherapist Nicole Runyon, say boredom isn’t a problem—it’s the launchpad for creativity, imagination, and independence.
“When kids aren’t scheduled every minute, they learn how to problem-solve, explore their interests and build confidence,” Runyon explains. In other words, that moment when your child flops on the floor and wails, “I’m booooored”? That’s the gateway to genius. Or at least to building a surprisingly elaborate fort out of couch cushions and your good bath towels.
Ah yes, the digital elephant in the room. Just because you’re dialing down the structure doesn’t mean your kid has to spend 9 hours a day watching other kids open toys on YouTube.
Set some boundaries:
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Limit screen time (yes, even when it’s easier to hand them the iPad than deal with the drama).
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Encourage real-world fun: backyard adventures, board games, messy crafts, or, dare we say it, chores with a soundtrack.
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Frame “free time” as something cool, not just the absence of screens or organized activities.
Bonus tip: Slime, paint, and home science experiments may destroy your kitchen—but that’s a good sign. Messy kids are busy creating, exploring, and generally being awesome.
Letting your kids have unstructured time this summer is:
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Free (take that, $600-a-week camp!)
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Simple
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Good for their brains and independence
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A throwback to the kind of summer that made us who we are
So go ahead, cancel a camp or two. Let them wander. Let them whine. Let them figure out how to entertain themselves. Turns out, a little boredom might be exactly what their growing minds—and your overstimulated parenting soul—need.
