Fun ideas for 8 year old with broken arm

[Alice]

My sweet 8 year old broke his arm yesterday. It's his R arm and he's in a long arm cast so he's not able to do much. He's a kid whose life basically consists of skateboarding, roller-blading, biking, running around with the dog, etc. Plus, it's summer and our family is very involved in the swim team and typically our summer revolves around the pool.

 

I'm praying for a short arm waterproof cast when we go to see Ortho and that the time he has to wear it is as short as possible. But in the meantime I'm looking for fun things for an 8 year to do in a bulky plaster cast on his dominant arm. I can't think of much other than movies and lifting all our electronic restrictions. I'm ok with that but because we don't watch much TV or have video games he finds that boring pretty quickly. And he can't really do much on the iPad or computer due to the limited use of the arm. We have lots of board games and card games but they seem kind of boring to him right now, I think he's just feeling so sad, although he's trying really hard to put on a brave face. I plan to go to Target tonight to se if I can find any crazy games or other ideas but I also thought what better place than the hive for ideas about anything.

 

 

[Mandylubug]

With it being summer, does your local cinema have Dollar Movies? 

 

I was going to suggest board games but I see you have those covered...

 

books, audio books

hands on science experiments

planting a personal garden (buy starter seedlings and put in pots for him to care, water, etc.)

puzzles

magnifying glass or binoculars, nature book and outdoor time

 

 

[Mandylubug]

hoola hoop

hop scotch

 

[fraidycat]

My 9 year old DS just got out of his long arm cast last week.

 

He's more upset now, because without the cast, he's on restricted activity until the bone is fully healed. No running, climbing, skateboarding due to risk of re-snapping. In other words, he ran, played, skateboarded, and did everything (except swim, or bathe alone) with his cast on and now he can't. Video games and Netflix, and walking or swimming He's getting so bored already. :)

 

His dominant arm is a little less dominant now. He is still reverting to using his left hand a lot of the time.

[MercyA]

Lego Movie Maker?  You don't have to use Legos--you can use anything to make fun stop motion animation movies.

[TrulySusan]

Hacky sack?  That would still be active without involving his arm. He sounds like a fellow who likes to keep in motion!

[matrips]

Bowling with his left hand? It might be a fun challenge and build some strength in it as well. Kids bowl free usually in the summer if you have participating centers.

[wintermom]

You can plan a whole bunch, but don't be surprised if he figures out how to do stuff just fine with the cast and all. My ds broke his arm at age 4 and it didn't slow him down much. I wouldn't let him ride his bike, and we had to try and keep it as dry as possible (we were already booked to go for a week on a house boat with a hot tub). He survived just fine, though the cast was stinky and dirty when it was finally removed. I was impressed the way he figured out how to play badminton.

[lovinmyboys]

Echoing what others have said..when my ds8 broke his arm the only thing he wasn't really allowed to do was ride his bike (his break may not have been as bad). The first day he was pretty excited about his cast, the next three days he was really sad and out of it, then he pretty much figured out how to do stuff.

 

He played kickball, soccer, rode his scooter, played tennis left handed. The dr cleared him to do all that when his cast was on. He was much more frustrated about indoor things..Legos, drawing, playing games, eating were hard for him at first. But, really, after the first few days he found things to do.

 

I hope you get lots of good ideas. It's so sad to have a broken arm, especially in the summer.

[Alice]

Thanks everyone! He has broken an arm before, when he was 5. That was a simpler break and he had a short arm cast. He was able to do everything, even play T-ball on his team and swim. We went to the beach and I think he even boogie-boarded. I found myself constantly saying "Please, only one broken bone at a time" because he kept doing crazy things even with the one arm broken. 

 

This one is a long arm cast and it was a worse break. He's in a really heavy plaster cast right now so he doesn't really feel like doing much. It has to keep it in a sling and it hurts his neck when he's up moving around a lot. And the doctor said no sports or physical activity until we see them back. We see them Thursday so I'm really hoping that he is able to get a waterproof cast. That would be ideal. But if not that, at least a fiberglass cast so that he is more comfortable. And we'll see if he gets cleared for more activity. 

 

I know it's only two days more but he's such a sweetie and trying not to complain and be positive about it all that my heart just hurts for him and I want to find ways to make it better.