What can I do about my bored soon to be 4 year old?

When my kid gets bored, he gets destructive. I just don't have the money to buy new toys to keep him challenged. his favorite shows are Word Girl, Word World, Super why, and discovery channel science shows. On the computer he plays games about science, mechanics, words, and math. now he already knows his alphabet, numbers to 1000, read time, seasons, reads about 200 words, he is working on writing but isn't that good at it yet, knows basic math, money, parts of the body (about 20 bone names included), and a bunch more stuff. He gets bored building his train set, blocks, or just about anything pretend. He loves the science playsets though (space and body especially). We go to the planetarium once a week and maybe the childrens museum but that doesn't seem to be enough. He can't go to head start or private preschool. What can I do for free that will keep him stimulated? He also loves rhythms and music. overall, he is a friendly kid but can also be very mean--pulling the cats tail, throwing his table around, hitting me, licking people, poking pointing things in my foot, etc. He usually only acts out when he is bored. any ideas? Someone (a neighbor) told me he must be add or autistic but I don't believe that.

um i'd be conserned for that tendancy of anger not learning to control it, and get it checked out just to be sure there is nothing else underlying there

also for boredom try allowing him to be your little helper, he can help with folding clothes and puting away some of the dishes (non breakable) etc

try playdoh. then he can do whatever he wants. or leap frog books. he can still read and the speak to him so he's even more entertained.

try making this paragraph a bit shorter, then maybe i would read it

look online for different and science songs and activities that you can do in and outside. make something in the morning that will keep him busy all day.

get different facts from online and print them out. then have him help you read them and make a book out of them.

http://www.kidssoup.com/Space/Space_Acti…
http://www.preschoolrainbow.org/preschoo…
http://preschoolrainbow.org/activities-s…
http://www.first-school.ws/theme/mini_th…
http://www.preschooleducation.com/sspace…
http://www.perpetualpreschool.com/presch…

He's a boy. you can't amuse your child/children all day long - they have to amuse themselves. Punish the unacceptable behavior (he's old enough to know better than to hurt the cat) and praise the good behavior. it sounds like he is getting a lot of TV and Computer time - at age 4 it should be no more than 1-2 hours per day (if you ask me though, no more than 1/2-1 hour a day - but everyone is different). Anyways, it sounds like he needs more outside playtime...send him outside when he gets bored and let him terrorize the local ants...dig a hole...whatever. you can also exercise together when you have time - ride bikes, take walks, etc....We have an only child, daughter, and she had to learn to amuse herself because we can't do it for her.

you should check some schools out, they do have programs for kids that are 4 years old and will take them, my daughter is in this program, it is free and she loves it! sounds like he needs to be active all the time have you tried doing arts and crafts with him? they have tons of websites for this. I run a daycare and when the kids are getting restless I do art time and it relaxes them! I hope this helps!

It sounds like he is abnormally bright for an almost 4 year old.

It's important for children to learn to entertain themselves when they are bored. you don't want him to learn that you are Mrs. Activity and he can always count on you to take him to fun places and entertain him.

I would take him to the library and get some science for kids DVDs and some CD's of music that might be interesting to him. you can also do some science experiments with him using regular household items. Make your own playdough, make an exploding "volcano" with a playdough volcano and black food-colored baking soda mixture inside for the "lava"

What can I do about my bored soon to be 4 year old?