Hand-on/Active ideas

16 years ago

I mentioned in my other thread (ADHD- Finally a better plan) that we're trying to come up with a stockpile of activities other than Warcraft to do with A__ (who is almost 9). I'd love to hear other suggestions from other people to add to our idea banks!

We're trying to come up with active and/or hands-on activities that don't cost a lot of money. The active and/or hands-on part is really important for him and I'd LOVE more ideas!

Ideas for the activity stockpile so far that we can do together (keep in mind I'm the coordinator for a science outreach program and that BF and I both do martial arts):

Spooling DNA,

teaching him front and back rolls,

baking cookies,

making alkaseltzer rockets,

learning how to break out of judo/wresting holds (NO WAY are we teaching how to put holds on at this point, but he'd love to know some escapes),

making origami animals,

going to the river bank to look for different animal footprints and plant species,

making a Rube Goldberg machine to pop a balloon,

learning to make balloon animals,

tobogganing

For a few ideas of things he can do on his own:

We're going to buy him some K'Nex one of these days to have something other than Lego because he seems a little bored and limited with it.

We're also going to get him a few basic tools and his own toolbox so that he can take apart small appliances (and such) that we get at the junk store.

He likes to draw and colour, but never knows what to draw, so we're going to get a few drawing books and print out some Warcraft pictures from the computer and give him his own sketchpad.

On a slightly related note: he got an mp3 player from his Grandma for Christmas but didn't listen to anyone on how to care for its battery and it's toast now (he'd run it until the battery died, then charge it for 10 minutes, listen to it for 15 until it died again, charge it for 10, repeat - so the battery gave out right away)...

The mp3 player was a GODSEND. He could be quiet for more than a minute at a time when he had it on because he had audio stimulation. So he'd have one earbud in while he talked with us and he was able to focus on the conversation instead of jumping around. He'd have it on while he read or did homework and he was able to focus for longer. He fell asleep faster when he was listening to music because "I don't get so bored laying there that I want to get up again"

So we want to figure out a way to provide a new mp3 player without stepping on anyone's toes and without making it seem like he gets a new one whenever he breaks his old one... All we can think of it having a list of housework type tasks to complete and then we'll buy him one that will just live at BF's place and we will keep an eye on that he's caring for the battery properly. But we prefer to use the "chores as earning towards a goal" for smaller $ items, and an mp3 player is pretty expensive. Any ideas? We're at a total loss and I need help!

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Comments (8)

ceph
Original Author
16 years ago
He hardly has any Lego at BF's place - it's all at other houses... We asked him if he'd "like to bring some Lego over to be able to build at Dad's too?" and he seemed unenthused "I like to build but I don't want to just do more Legos"
That's why we're thinking K'Nex - anyone know of other similar toys that we could take a look at?
mom_of_4
16 years ago
I thought of the knex too... but it did not keep the attention the way I thought it would. I think I thought it was cooler than they did. The legos have the same thing.. small amounts of attention grabbing BIG mess.

As far as the mp3 player ... I have found periodically mp3 players for as little as 15 - 20 bucks which makes it much less steep. I would try and find one like that and go with the earning it with chores. But, I would make it extra chores.. things outside of what he normally should be doing. Like if he doesnt take out the trash or sweep the floor or clean the bathroom...even cleaning the car. To me, chores are part of being apart of the family so everyone does their share...it's when you do the extra stuff that earns you things.

and there are always the crafty things like making wax leaves, decorating pine cones, finger painting is a good outdoor activity (at least for me since I don't like the mess on the hard wood floor), we also have done random things like go to the store and bought material to make costumes for like star wars... the girls were leia and then we had luke and obi wan.

and there is always a holiday to make things for like valentines day coming up and easter... there are websites for teachers and people like that that have a million ideas.. just search creative kids and creative holiday crafts and there are about a million different websites.

as far as drawing stencils and stickers are a good starting point for them... make a place for barbie sticker to stick ie big castle is drawn with fairies to bring her cupcakes and so on. or dinosaur is sleeping in its nest with eggs blah blah blah it works fairly well.
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ceph
Original Author
16 years ago
Ooh - I like the stickers idea... He likes to draw backgrounds, but seems to think he doesn't draw well enough to draw the main thing in the picture... Maybe I'll look for some stickers of things he likes - dinosaurs, spaceships, bugs (but not spiders because he hates them), medieval weaponry, soccer players, fantasy creatures like orks and ogres - and then he can draw a scene to put the sticker in.

Did you have a book of K'nex projects? That sort of thing seems to really get A__ excited - he likes the Lego kits that make a specific car or monster better than freestyle building. So we thought we'd get a book along with it.
Hmm, thinking of it now - I wonder if he would like model cars or airplanes and that sort of thing. Maybe we should ask him or get an inexpensive one to try out.

We thought he might like egg decorating at Easter... And we'll keep outdoor finger painting in mind for summer!

I'll keep my eyes peeled for a cheap mp3 player.... The thing I'm torn on though - if he earns the mp3 player by doing extra chores at BF's, it is reasonable to say "This stays HERE" for something that technically belongs to him? I know asking this might be a can of worms in this crowd...
oh_my
16 years ago
When I was young, my dad got me a model rocket to build with him, and then you can take it to an open field somewhere and blast it off. At first I was thinking, "Did he want another boy?" But it turned out to be great fun, and we ended up making several of them, and it's just my opinion, but it was way more fun than model cars!!

(Definitely an adult-supervised project though, since model rockets are set off with mild explosives!!)
mom_of_4
16 years ago
as far as the knex and legos (we did the same thing with those) I think it was too much detail for em... oh well

i think this was brought up along with the clothes... but toys bought by us stay at our house..including ss ipod and their cd players and such. At least until they get older and I can make them more responsible for the stuff without any sort of parental supervision... and even then when it gets left behind 'someone' else ends up messing with it and it gets broken or lost so... right now what we buy stays at our house... it sucks but there just isnt another way in our situation until they are all older.
sweeby
16 years ago
"The thing I'm torn on though - if he earns the mp3 player by doing extra chores at BF's, it is reasonable to say "This stays HERE" for something that technically belongs to him? I know asking this might be a can of worms in this crowd..."

How about BF gets an inexpensive MP3 player for 'himself' that A_ can earn the right to use by doing small things around the house? That way, the 'rental' payment tasks are small and continuous, and ownership isn't in question, making MP3 residence and care your rightful domain.
oh_my
16 years ago
Wow, Sweeby is soooo smart!! I would have never thought up the rental idea for the ipod!! I'm going to try that with our children in regards to easily lost or broken, yet more expensive items!!
mom2emall
16 years ago
I have 2 boys (1ss and 1bioson) that have lots of energy. Neither has been diagnosed with adhd, but we really have been thinking that the older boy may have adhd based on a lot of his behaviors at school. Anyways, because they are both so active we have had to think of different activities to keep them busy.

I forget how old A is, but my boys love playing with Magnetix! We got them for them for Christmas and they loved them! We got a good deal on one of the after Thanksgiving sales, I am not sure where to find them inexpensive regularly.

Also, my son got a kit a few years back for a model car that was already put together but there were mini screwdrivers and different wheels and doors that he could change on the car.

We recently got the monopoly game that comes with the calculator machine and credit cards instead of the money. Our boys love playing that because now they do not have to be "banker".

Hand-on/Active ideas

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ceph
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Hand-on/Active ideas

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cephOriginal Author

mom_of_4

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cephOriginal Author

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ceph
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ceph
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