Today was a fine, warm autumn day. My son, my nieces and I went out for a walk in the yard. We played football, drew with chalk, and even had a little race with cars. Then we went to the “meadow” - that’s what we call an open place not far from our house, overgrown with grass, where there are quite a few trees. But there are butterflies flying, ladybugs crawling and a lot of acorns that fell from two mighty oak trees. In general, a world of discoveries for the naturalist and for the child, it goes without saying! In sunny weather you can watch ants, after rain - snails. Nearby there is a small island of trees, under which you can often find mushrooms in the fall. Of course they are toadstools. But this does not overshadow the joy of discovery. On them we train how to recognize poisonous mushrooms, how they differ from non-poisonous ones. So. Today we walked through this beauty and collected acorns for crafts. And my youngest niece (7 years old) walks around darker than a cloud. I ask her what's the matter. He says: “I’m bored.” I ask again: “Who is to blame for this?” She is silent, frowning. That is, this outside world with all its riches is not interesting to her at the moment. Perhaps it's situational. But, unfortunately, I increasingly see the picture that schoolchildren do not know what and how to occupy themselves if they are on the street without gadgets. Most of them are so used to staring at these little boxes that without them they feel like they have no hands. The boxes certainly keep them entertained. There is no need to invent new games or imaginary worlds, reinvent the wheel or invent your own secret language. They've already thought of everything for you. And if the child is overloaded with studies and clubs, then he simply does not have the strength to come up with something new, study the world around him, develop observation and emotionality. I thought about myself, when was the last time I felt outright boredom. Unless at all sorts of collective pedagogical meetings at my previous job. Where they summed up or told something long and tediously and which is of little practical use. Why do modern children have this feeling more and more often? Do we teach them to observe, analyze, draw conclusions? Do we talk to them about anything other than school? Do we play games with sincere pleasure? If adults know how to find interest in life, why don’t we pass this skill on to our children? Life is so interesting and varied. A lot of information, including on the Internet, is just waiting for you to become interested in it. Books, music, films, nature, technology, human relationships - you can continue ad infinitum. The interest is in ourselves. And we ourselves make our lives and the lives of our children interesting. At the same time, you should not chase external entertainment and impressions. They are, of course, important. But they will never replace live human communication and observation of how, for example, leaves fall from trees, how the sun sets, a stream runs, bees collect nectar from flowers, and ants diligently drag their prey to their house.