Keeping up with your kids / wearing them out

[Snow]

Ds needs more physical activity than I can keep up with. He needs more than any kid I've seen. If I have him run with me, he wants to stop running at a certain point, but he's not tired like he needs to stop being physical - he wants to still play catch when we get home. He comes home from an hour of basketball and before we get in the door he asks if we can all go for a bike ride.

 

The other problem is that he won't go outside by himself ( I believe he has anxiety). And tbh, there's not a whole lot to do on our rocky, tiny lot.

 

What do you do with a kid like this? I swear, he was born to work on a farm. He Loves to have a physical/ outdoors job (but we can only pull so many weeds). He's smart enough to realize my suggestion to wash baseboards isn't going to cut it. Anyone else with a kid like this?

[trulycrabby]

I was like that, so mom put me in ballet, figure skating, gymnastics, and tennis...at the same time. Worked great actually. :o After we got home, I would go to the neighborhood tennis court and hit the ball against the backboard for hours at a time...

 

How about soccer, cross country running, swim team, hockey, basketball, tae kwon do, gymnastics, or any other sport that is physically demanding? Also, many cities also have large sports training centers that offer conditioning classes for kids.

 

For something at home, I would get some Insanity videos and let him work off some energy. :)

 

Also, maybe break up the runs into two shorter ones, or run in the morning and walk in the afternoons.

[Kalmia]

One of my friends had her kids dig a huge hole in the backyard. It took years and ended up being about 8 feet long, 5 feet wide and 4 feet deep. They made a teepee type roof from tied together saplings over top of it. They left some dirt intact for stools. She supervised from the kitchen window to be sure they did not dig in such a way that it would collapse upon them.

 

He could build you a stone wall or stone ringed garden plot from all the rocks in your lot.

 

 

 

 

[Snow]

Yes.

Trampoline! Suicides. Do you have a dog he could take for a run? Volunteer to clean a barn for horseriding lessons? Do you have room to get some building materials and get a hammer swinging?

  

Thank you. Good idea on the building/tools/hammer thing. He would love that. We used to have an indoor trampoline when he was young but the springs were too tight so he couldn't bounce very well so we got rid of it. I think ill research some again to see which might be best for him now.

 

I was like that, so mom put me in ballet, figure skating, gymnastics, and tennis...at the same time. Worked great actually. :o After we got home, I would go to the neighborhood tennis court and hit the ball against the backboard for hours at a time...How about soccer, cross country running, swim team, hockey, basketball, tae kwon do, gymnastics, or any other sport that is physically demanding? Also, many cities also have large sports training centers that offer conditioning classes for kids.For something at home, I would get some Insanity videos and let him work off some energy. :)Also, maybe break up the runs into two shorter ones, or run in the morning and walk in the afternoons.

  

Yes, we've had him in a couple of sports at a time but money has always been an issue with doing more. I think I might have to make a case (for all our sanity) that this is just something he needs - not just a nice to have for him. Thanks so much.

 

One of my friends had her kids dig a huge hole in the backyard. It took years and ended up being about 8 feet long, 5 feet wide and 4 feet deep. They made a teepee type roof from tied together saplings over top of it. They left some dirt intact for stools. She supervised from the kitchen window to be sure they did not dig in such a way that it would collapse upon them.

 

He could build you a stone wall or stone ringed garden plot from all the rocks in your lot.

Yes! He has actually dug a whole in the yard. That was a great project. We love in the desert so the soil is really hard and dry - perfect! Very cool idea to add in the teepee.

 

Thanks for your ideas!

[Desert Strawberry]

My kids have a pile of cast off bricks of various shapes and sizes. They love to build, stack and jump over them. They are just salvaged from various projects around our house. They treat them like giant, heavy blocks. 

They also have a few scrap boards of various sizes and shapes. They make good ramps from cars, roofs, etc. They asked D to put hinges and a lock on one for a door to their playhouse. That is fun. 

Does he have a play set? It sounds like he would benefit from a swing and monkey bars.

Big spools are great fun. 

Here's a picture tour of one loose parts play ground. You can do a search for more ideas.

 

http://www.achildstouch.com/pt_loosepartsplayground.php

[Annie]

My three year old has limitless energy. Tired isn't in his vocabulary. :-) I feel your pain. We moved from our house with a big, fenced in yard to a two bedroom apartment. It's going to be a long year.

[pink&bluemommy]

I love my jumpsport fitness trampoline and so do my kids.  Its very quiet!  I have this one:  http://www.amazon.com/JumpSport-Fitness-Trampoline-Model-220/dp/B0030E6O30/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393530821&sr=8-1&keywords=jumpsport+trampoline

[Hedgehog]

Sniff is one with endless energy.  He's nearly 9.  I don't have any wonderful suggestions, because I've never attempted to keep up with him personally, but we've had him in swimming, ice hockey, and lately tennis.  He also plays out in the cul-de-sac; a necessary substitute for a yard, since out back is the size of a pocket handkerchief, although we do manage a very small trampoline in it which has been great.

 

What I would say is that it does ease off as they get older.  Not much comfort now, but keep saying "this too shall pass"!  - oh and yes, exercise videos.  I know they're mostly intended for adults, but so what if it works?!

[T'smom]

I will be watching this for ideas! I have 2 with limitless energy. They each started walking at 9 months and by 12 months refused to be confined to a carrier or stroller. They would walk through zoos and museums and never get tired. They are 6 and 3 now. When the weather is nice (which for us hasn't been for months) we have a walk that we do nearly every day. It's a couple miles long and goes through two parks. Between the parks, it's a boardwalk that goes along a river. So, we have different things we do and certain stops along the way. There is a street that we cross and then race to this certain sign. Then we throw rocks in the river, stop at the playground, there is a bridge that we go under and go back and forth doing different things like skipping, jumping, leaping, etc. There is a place with railroad ties where they walk like a balance beam. There is a gazebo where they play ghosts and a sculpture that they run around in circles. And that's just part of it! The great thing is that it's routine and I don't have to think about it. They expend a lot more energy that I have to, they run in front and then back to me and then in front again. I don't have to participate in the jumping, skipping, racing and balancing. We are lucky that we live close to the river and these parks, but you might be able to find a route that would work.

 

This winter has been absolutely horrible.

[Joyofsixreboot]

I have found swimming (preferable "open swim" where they just splash for a couple hours) and soccer have worked well here.  Also an exercise bike was fun if i let them play netflix while on it.  Summer is so much easier than winter.  Summer is much easier~trampoline, swimming, bike riding, wood tramping, etc.  One can only sled for so long at 0 degrees.

[abba12]

Trampoline is a good one. Also, if your yard is big enough, consider marking out a 'bike track'. I spent hours a day doing those two activities outside as a kid.

 

If he is responsible, I know some kids who began to get into doing weights or other home fitness things. A friend of mine had parents with a full home gym and she learnt to use the equipment safely and did a lot with them. Built some decent muscles!

 

Any sort of outdoor construction is good. We used to have a huge pile of sticks and logs to build teepees and stuff out of. Also, what about fun chores, need the wood stacked or the exterior of the house painted? :P

[alisoncooks]

Crab balls!  I just posted a huge list and lost it.   

 

Anyway....

My oldest is HUGELY ACTIVE.  Here are some things we've used/tried/are thinking of trying:

1. we love our Jumpsport rebounder... my oldest, high-energy child jumps on it daily
2. what about a throw-back net of some sort?
3. we got a swing ball set for Christmas and oldest likes it... she'll stand outside and whack at it for 30-40 minutes at a time. :D
4. I plan on having DH make us a tetherball set this summer... fun stuff!
5. We've had some limited success with kid exercise videos.  When they were wee ones, they liked "Hustle Bustle Move Your Muscles" (LOL, soooo cheesy!).  Now they like TaeBo Kicks well enough.  And my youngest adores Leslie Sansone.   :D
6. We've just started experimenting with Chinese Jumprope.  Don't know how it'll pan out, but it's an energy user-uper.

[Rachel]

When my kids are needing to burn off energy but we can't get outside I'll turn on music so they can dance. We also do indoor Olympics, I'll tell them to run up and down the stairs 3 times, run two loops around the kitchen, do 10 jumping jacks, etc for 20-30 minutes. They go hard.

 

Outside I have found hiking and swimming both help a lot. When we hike I think my kids go twice as far as I do since they weave back and forth and run ahead.

 

My kids really enjoy digging and hammering too. A box of nails and a scrap 2x4 can keep them busy for hours.

[2squared]

My 9yo is like this, and I think it's driven by his SPD needs.  He also has anxiety.

 

Luckily he has three recesses at school.  I don't know how he could get through the day without all of them. 

 

I find he does best when he has physical activity combined with mental exertion, and that's why organized sports are perfect for him.  The most active sports require so much sensory and mental input/output that he truly is worn out when he comes home.  Basketball, wrestling, soccer, and football are perfect sports to fulfill all his needs.  Wrestling is the absolute best.  He's 100% "in" for every minute of practice, and he can't stop thinking for a second without running the risk of getting in a bad spot, losing a point, or suffering a pin.  He also needs to think every minute to spot his opponent getting in a bad spot so he can score a point or get in position to make a pin.

 

He also plays baseball, free plays in the yard, swims for fun in the summer, and is active in the house, but those activities don't actually wear him out.  Going on a long run wouldn't wear him out because he's not wearing out his brain too.

 

Organized sports do add up, particularly when your kid is in them year-round, but they have been the best therapy for my 9yo.  Intense contact sports significantly calm his anxiety and satisify his SPD needs.