Broken arm for summer

venusdoom

Hi, my 10 year old child has broken his arm for second time in a year. It was a very bad break and will face months in a cast. Doctors have advised him not to be very active or participate in any activity that could lead to in not recovering. He's very down and I'm just trying to think of things he can do over the summer.
He loves to read and has gotten into chess recently, so we have that and maybe xbox (if he can move his thumb in a few days). I don't want him to spend his time in his room watching tv or playing xbox all summer.

Apart from drives and walks, all I can think of is the cinema and camping. I can't think of anything else at the minute and neither can he. He's been to the aquarium and zoo so not interested in going back. Any suggestions will be much appreciated!

GalwayGrrrrrl

Can he do computer coding? Start with the scratch programme on a Laptop, he could do it with good hand.
Most libraries do a reading challenge over the summer, ours starts next week. Would give a bit of focus to his reading if he feels he’s working towards a prize in September.
Are you near a beach? Could go paddling or skimming stones. Looking for crabs etc.

venusdoom

Yes, he wants to do the Library challenge, so we're signing up for that Monday. He's sure he'll get through the 8 books fairly quickly The coding would be good actually. We're based in North West so I'm not sure if there's anything running for kids in that area but will look into it. And yes, we live beside the beach so we do that often. Thanks so much for your suggestions.

GalwayGrrrrrl

You could do the coding at home -
scratch.mit.edu has the programme to download to laptop and some tutorials. There will be more tutorials online. My son has learnt loads of stuff using YouTube - programming, magic tricks, songs for the periodic table etc!

venusdoom

He does have an interest in computers and gaming so I'd say this would be right up his street. I'll check those out. Again, thank you!

fritzelly

Broken in the same place?
What is he doing to break it twice in one year - don't want to worry you but maybe get a check up for bone density unless he is playing a high contact sport

Conservatory

Just send him out to play. He be grand he has a cast on. Tell him to take it handy.
I was swimming with the plastic bag tied around me cast when I was that age.

venusdoom

Yes, broke in same place. I questioned if he had brittle bones or something but Doctor's said the bones aren't soft. He had a bad accident first time and had to get plates in and it broke again where the screw was taken out. Just very unfortunate.

CatInABox

If you've got time to play with him, then Boardgames. Here's a bunch of recommended ones for around that age group. Ticket To Ride Europe is an excellent one. Stay away from the Hasbro stuff, they're just not very good, and are only in the toy shops because they pay to be there.

appledrop

If you in the North West what about a trip to Antrim coast/Belfast. Could do day trips if didn't want to stay overnight. Titanic exhibition + Science museum really good beside it can't think of name. Then you could do Giants Causeway, Carrick rope bridge etc another day.

catrionanic

Puzzle books? We were obsessed with puzzles as kids.
We weren't particularly sporty or active, but loved just going walking places with our friends - to the local shop for sweets or round the shopping centre or to a beach or a park.
We also loved creative writing and art.
You could consider getting him a small manageable pet like a hamster and giving him the task of caring for it. Easy to manage one-handed and endless fun at that age.

venusdoom

Thanks for all suggestions, getting plenty of ideas

AttentionBebe

The libraries have loads on apart from the summer stars challenge! Ours has coding workshops, film screenings, arts & crafts to name a few. Definitely worth a look

Dravokivich

If it's not his dominant arm, bowling?

Conservatory

Dravokivich wrote: »

If it's not his dominant arm, bowling?

I’m no pro bowler but the other hand would be needed for balance.

Dravokivich

Conservatory wrote: »

I’m no pro bowler but the other hand would be needed for balance.

Nor is he. He's 10. He'll likely just roll it down the centre instead of doing the odd stuff pro bowlers do.

mirrorwall14

Rubix cube? Get a good fast one off amazon and it shouldn’t over work the bad arm. Plenty of time to be consumed learning the algorithms to do it impressively fast!

mirrorwall14

Oh and a random slightly old fashioned one. If it won’t strain his fingers/arm too much learning to touch type is a brilliant skill to have