Sheffield mum's Boredom Bags business gives families a creative boost over the holidays

Ellie McPhail quickly realised when her life became restricted that many parents would be in the same situation with children of different ages and interests not in school and constantly in need of entertainment.

And this is when the idea of Boredom Bags was born.

The bags contain specially designed art and craft activities with resources included, challenges and competitions led by local artists/businesses, subtle mindfulness activities to help children process lockdown frustrations, cool non-schooly science hacks, game ideas, simple and tasty recipes, silly fixes, and weekly links to impressive skill-inspiring YouTube channels.

“I know only too well how hard and how time-consuming it can be to keep children occupied and happy, especially in the long summer holiday,” Ellie explained, “and that’s without the pressures of a pandemic.

"But cancelled holidays, parents working from home, children not being able to socialise with their friends in quite the same way just add more pressure

“I therefore set my mind to the task of devising a series of Boredom Bags to span the six-week break.

"Each bag gives children a week’s worth of ideas and activities that will help them keep boredom at bay, and provide a lot of laughter and memories for the whole family.

"I wanted to create something that was affordable, that children would enjoy and would also help enable some much needed me-time for parents too.”

Teacher and mother-of-three Lindsay Bugden said: “I have a seven-year-old boy, a five-year-old girl and a toddler. My lot have loved getting involved with their Boredom Bags.

"The bags have really gripped both younger and older age groups and have given us plenty of fun options that we have done from home and on holiday.”

Ellie added: “It’s been really wonderful to see and hear how the bags have made a really positive impact, not only on children and parents but also the wider community.”

Ellie is already hard at work preparing a half-term version and one for the Christmas holiday too.

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