Send in Your Favorite "Energy Outlets"
Cold weather is fast approaching. As winter arrives it may be more and more difficult to get your child outside to play and run off some of that excess energy. I would like to compile a list of favorite winter activities to help your ADHD child release energy, as well as keep healthy with physical activity. As always the best tips for parents of children with ADHD comes from other parents.
Please send me your favorite "energy outlets" for your child during the cold winter months. You can post below in the comments section or email me directly at add.guide@about.com. There is also a folder set up on our Forum where you can post. I'll compile a top 10 list of suggestions to share with everyone.
Look forward to reading your ideas!
Photo © Microsoft
Puzzles are very effective. We buy large plywood squares so puzzles can be moved aside and completed at later times and do not have to be taken down. Also have bought a Wii and hope to have combined participatory activities playing it to keep us active inside.
We don’t mind getting dirty! We put our old clothes on and wellies and go to the park.
Walking and cycling works well for us as it warms us up and gives us exersize and I get some of the best conversationa out of my ADHD boy when out walking.
My boy likes to help garden. Once a storm blew a brach off our tree and he wents straight out and wearing helemt, goggles, reflective jacket and gardening gloves (LOL) spend over an hour chopping it up into peices small enough to put in the recycling bin.
So now I create jobs for him in the garden.
Bubble mixture is worth keeping in as are balloons.
I also have a big cupboard with a large choice of board games and some rainy day toys(marble run and other things he’s grown out of but loves to remember and play with in an emergency)
I’ve a stash of videos too and a popcorn maker. This can be a good way to wind a ADHD child down at the later end of the day.
My son likes the playstation but I limit it’s use. We have an eye toy on it which controlls the games with body movements and the can be a good way to release energy.
I like to encourage my son to cook. previously a whole day has been used up researching, planning shopping for, cooking and then eating. (My sons hyperactivity is more mental than physical) This sort of thing gives him something to focus on the whole day, with a few breaks inbetween.
My son is 11 and still loves to bring cardboard boxes back from the supermarket to make things with. I always keep in plenty of cellotape, paint and marker pens.
I have made friends with other single parents with chalenging children and meet up with them for an hour occasionally(1 hour is enough!). It can be very ‘lively’ but as long as they have clear rules and are rewarded for playing nicely, they entertain themselves and have an absolute hoot
Mostly we just work on the philosophy that with enough clothing layers, he can get out and about just like summer, and clothes are very easy to wash.
We live in Quebec, Canada, where there is normally lots of snow in the winter. We find that when Sarah gets to play outside, she sleeps a lot better. We live in a large complex so she plays with her friends all day long: toboggan, snow fort, etc. If a storm keeps her inside, she loves to read and play on the computer, but when that happens, she does not sleep as well and is more fidgety.
For the winter months, we have a mini trampoline that I have both my kids use to burn off some energy. I’ll back the car out of the garage for a little bit, close the garage door and let them use the mini-tramp in there. We are also getting a Wii as a family Christmas gift, so I have high hopes that will help. The most fun is to roll back the family room rug,push the furniture aganst the walls and put on some loud dance music and “Everybody Dance, Now!!!” That last one is a blast, even the dog gets into the act!!!!
We have a neighbor who installed inexpensive plywood boards on the back wall of her garage and now has an indoor backboard for tennis practice!
Hey Everyone,
These are great! Keep ‘em coming. I can’t wait to pull them all together into a top ten list.
My son is now 13 yrs old and since he was 3 his teachers immediately knew he had adhd and they were right because every year from 4 to 13 years old I’ve had so many problems with him in school he’s been on 3 different medications and afer a while it doens’nt affect him.
The worst is inability to sit still and concentrate, he moves around mind wonders, forgets, hiper, gets into trouble
This past cold holiday weekend i covered the kitchen table with a disposable tablecloth and laid out every craft we had. I left it all out the whole weekend and every time my son was looking for something to do, there it was.
We also hung a swing and a trapeze bar from a heavy beam in our unfinished basement. Enough said