Hello,
My 8 year old daughter broke her arm this weekend at practice. I am looking for creative ideas of things to keep her busy. She broke her right arm, which is the hand she writes with. We bought 3 new books, and picked up a couple movies. I couldn't find any craft things that she could do one handed, so if you think of something, let me know. She is extremely active and athletic, so this is a shock for her to not be able to do normal things as easily. Thanks in advance for your ideas.
I just wanted to thank the people who have already responded. She can still do some of the things outside, but emotionally she is a not handling this well. She is crying more then I've ever seen. On the playground, she does her flips, tumbles, goes on the bars, etc. Cheer and tumbling is what she does. At home, she loves going on the tramp, or climbing on our bars. Those are the things she loves to do. She isn't sleeping well or anything.
My daughter loves search and find books. It is one of her favorite things to do. It can keep her busy for many minutes. Get it as complicated as her age, so she doesn't take forever and get discouraged, but not so easy it is boring. Hope this helps.
Hi CR,
I'm sorry your poor baby has a broken arm. Right now, it'll probably be a little akward, but not for very long.
My oldest fractured her wrist when she was about the same age, and had to wear a cast for around a month or so. We didn't even know she'd broken it until a week after it happened, despite the fact we'd taken her to the ER and had her X-rayed. The on-call doc read the film wrong, so she went a week with her arm basically broken and unprotected. She was always outside, always playing, had soccer, rode bikes, and always on the go too, but it didn't stop her, even before she had the cast on and her arm was hurting her.
She figured out how to ride her bike, still went outside to play, still did everything pretty normally, she just couldn't write with her right hand, and eating was interesting lol.
Your daughter may even be able to still go to practice as long as she's careful. Should ask the doc, if they didn't mention it, and see if it would be okay.
As far as indoor "quiet" activities, she would probably like a couple new coloring books, maybe even some paint by numbers(my daughter got pretty good at using her left hand for many activities, and can still do it on occasion), and she could make mosaics, and those sun-catcher/stained glass projects.
Also, let her help with cooking. She can do the measuring and stir(you hold the bowl), and if she uses the computer at all, you could change your mouse to left hand clicking. She'd just have to "chicken peck" type with her other hand for any typing.
OH, do you have any of the new Crayola 3-D art supplies? They have the chalk and paint. Get her some of that and tell her to go outside and use her left hand to come up with whatever interesting and different drawings she can, and then put the glasses on.
Anyway, this is all I can think of off the top of my head--hope I've helped. She'll amaze you at just how adaptive she really is with this thing on and what she can still do.
Beware of the stench when it finally comes off. Ewwww, it's nasty! ;-)
Again I'm sorry her arm is broken :o(, and I hope it gets better fast! :o)
K. W
Is she in a plaster of Paris cast? If so, can you have a little mini-party with some of her friends to decorate the cast? This might be a good way to jolt her out of her depression.
(It's VERY normal for depression to kick in. I've had a lot of experience with casts - and the worst time is a couple of days after the injury. The pain has subsided and is down to manageable levels so you're able to focus on what you CAN'T do. You're also still recovering so your body is just worn down AND you haven't had enough time to adapt to the loss of mobility yet.)
It'll be especially hard for you to keep her entertained because of the little ones, but you can try to keep her busy by taking her out as much as possible. Even on errands. She'll almost certainly get a lot of attention from passerbys anywhere you go - so she might enjoy the attention her arm brings her.
All you need to do is to get her over the next several days. She'll adapt to the cast quickly and will proudly find ways to do different things. Perhaps you can start a log to document with her what she used to be able to do with two arms and when and how she figures out how to do the same thing with one arm.
CR,
I've never broken any bones (thankfully), but I don't see why she can't still go to parks an play. Last year my nephew broke his arm in several places, and was still an active youngster. He's 12. Follow what the doctor said, but she can still be active, just in a different way. She'll also find ways to function around the cast and be just fine.
Hope this helps,
Melissa
