Need Ideas to Help ADHD Kid(s) Entertain Themselves

My SS with ADHD loved the mini tramp - it would help him release some energy.
We also discovered, a little later, that if we did something quite active (think lots of running) that it would be easier for him to do calm activities afterwards. Perhaps you could try alternating very active things (outside play/park/etc) with attempts at coloring/puzzles?

I did some work once with Autistic kids. We "taught" them to increase attention span by having them sit still for a short time (first 5 seconds, then 10, then 15, etc). They were on a rewards system, so would earn a star for completing the time. You cold try something similar, with a reward system, for 5 minutes of quiet time play, then gradually increase the time...

I have a daughter who is 6, and we are going through the same thing. My younger daughter is 3, and we are in the same boat of wondering if she too will have ADD issues. I have always struggled with how to entertain them. I wish I had advice for you...but I wanted to let you know you are not alone. Good luck!

Wheeeee FUN :) Of course, I'm biased, as we're an unmedicated adhd house, too.

You're dead in the black about finding "interesting" things that they'll hyperfocus on... but no matter what you do... adhd little kids do tend to be more labor intensive as pure as not being able to just "set them up". Here's what we do / have done with our adhd kiddo that will trigger his hyperfocus. Obviously... these are just what we do in our house:

- Outdoor toys indoors (we pulled the wheels off of the plasma car and replaced them with rollerblade wheels, because they're quieter http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3... and that's been ridden inside and outside for years). Ditto we allow also razoring and skateboarding in the house. We haven't replaced the Pergo with hardwood for this very reason.

- INTERACTIVE computer games. www.starfall.com , iSpy, http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/ , http://kids.discovery.com/ , and many many others. Kiddo started playing Starfall when he was 2.5 and was reading fluently 6 months later, so be careful with that one, as early readers are kind of a pain in the neck. (Reading + No Impulse Control = Danger)

- HELPING. We didn't bother with a play kitchen, because kiddo started to help cook when he was 1ish. Now at nearly 8 he's my "prep cook". By the time he was 3 he was also our windex-star, doing his own laundry (mum of course has to lift up to pour in the soap, and get the clothes OUT of the wash, but he could bring his clothes down and lob them into the machine on his own). I figured on the cleaning aspect, even if only one square foot got done, it was one square foot *I* didn't have to do. For years he washed all of our cabinets every time we cleaned. He quit 2 years ago in favor of the floors, and boy oh boy, do I miss my clean cabinets. We put on music and dance when we clean, so it's fun. They don't do a very good job in the beginning, but it keeps them occupied, and gets them in the habit/pattern of helping. And with adhd habit/pattern is sooooo key.

- Got a dog. (Yes, for the specific purpose of having someone in the house with a chance of keeping up with him).

- Enrolled him in gymnastics.

- Got Netflix Streaming so I wouldn't feel too bad about TV time (It's hard to feel bad about TV time when it's documentaries put on by NOVA, the BBC, H, etc... and your kids are bouncing up and down running off the litany of things they're memorizing from the 40TH play (sigh) of Walking With Dinosaurs, or The Universe, or Magic Schoolbus.

- Sacrificial rolls of toiletpaper and scotch tape. Oh the mess they'll make. Oh the time it will consume as they make it.

- Shaving Cream + Sliding Glass Door (or mirror) = fingerpaint

- Pots and pans = drums, duct taped pringles can with beans in it = shaker. Tylenol & or drummers earplugs = bliss (drummers ear plugs let you hear everything, but cancel out the sharp part of the noise)

- Alternative ways of walking (aka, "Hey kiddo would you ____crawl like a bug, float like a cloud, run like a mastodon, inch like a worm, etc.____ to the living room and get me the _______?"

- Taping art paper to the bottom of the table and doing Sistine Chapel drawings.

- Paper Mache. Baloons + newspaper + papermache paste + painters plastic

- LONG baths for playtime not just bedtime, with me reading a book right there. (as in a grownup book, to myself)

I wanted to commend you for recognizing that harsh discipline isn't always the answer, that kids need what is appropriate for them individually. Kids with ADHD can't be disciplined out of it, they need special love and patience and positive support (I wish my son's teacher and grandparents understood more!)

Part of the not entertaining themselves (at least, not in ways you are okay with) is the age. One thing that worked for us was finding something he is very interested in. It was cars and trains. He (and his little brother, who doesn't have ADHD but often follows the example anyway) would play with cars fand trains for hours. Another big hit was (and still is) playdough. This one takes a bit more attention and can get messy, but it also lets them poke, smash, and squish to their hearts content (another big thing for them).

The best advice, I think, is to relax a bit on how your house looks. As long as there are clean clothes to wear, clean dishes to eat off of, and meals to eat, don't worry about the rest of it. Its true that you don't want to live in something that looks like a tornado went through it (which is what a child with ADHD can leave behind!) but you also don't need to worry about it looking like something from Better Homes and Gardens. Involve the girls in picking things up; it can be a game, like the first one to put 5 toys away gets to run around the house twice or something. But it's far more important to spend time with them than to make sure the dusting got done this week.
(Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to say that you're obsessed with a clean house. I just know that, as moms, we think it all needs to be perfect. Don't be afraid to let it go a bit to save your sanity)

My younger daughter is very rambunctious, and she is about the same age as your older daughter. I have had people suggest to me that she has ADHD, however I just see her as a kid with a lot of energy. Like you, I don't really have any interest in medicating her, so I just have to find ways to keep her from hurting herself or others! ;-) Anyhow, she's on the go constantly. What I think really helps is TONS of physical activity. We also have an outdoor jungle gym and she plays on that for hours, and we have a small area where she can ride her bike and roller skate, which she loves. We go out for walks (she runs/bounces/levitates the entire time), we go to the park (she chases the dogs and geese there), she takes dance class (that poor teacher). On rainy days, we play music and dance in the house (we bought her an inexpensive little CD player and some preschooler music that she keeps in her room)... but that keeps her energy level manageable, if still higher than average.

Aside from that, she needs to be challenged intellectually in order to sit still. As such, she learned to read about a year ago and is fascinated with that. Also we started teaching her math using manipulatives, so now she can add and subtract up to 20. Maybe these aren't things your daughter would enjoy, but maybe they are - or there may be other things she likes (such as music, maybe playing piano, or perish the thought... drums?). I think these kids with high energy levels are often times very intelligent kids who have trouble focusing at times because everything in the world is so interesting to them. I've also learned that constant interaction on my part is not necessary to my daughter, and in fact it seems to make her worse. So, I let her explore as much as she wants, and then we clean up later. One thing that has helped is actually to reduce the number of toys that we have in our house, so she is not so overwhelmed when it's time to clean up. Since she reads, I've labeled all the little bins her toys go in, and she likes to read the labels and organize her things (it does take quite a bit of reminding and/or help to keep her on task though). Before she could read, I drew little "stick pictures" with the words underneath, and put them on the bins so she could see what things go where.

She's my 40-pound hurricane and the house is usually a mess when she's around, but it's so entertaining to watch her. I know one day she'll get a grip on herself and probably won't be nearly as funny, so I try to enjoy it while I can! =)

I don't know if any of these suggestions will help, but your daughter sounds a lot like mine!

j

Sounds so familiar...have you tried a mini trampoline? Mine could bounce on that for hours, and it is a good repetative activity, but you might need two!

If you can't beat em, join em! Set up an obsticle course just within your view...jump on the tramp, crawl through one of those spring-nylon covered tunnels, sit on a stool, ring a bell...do it again...something to help wear then out. Make it a race between them.

A small tub full of corn meal is great if they are sensory kids, and so is a plastc bag over your table with shaving cream to smear around.

Once mine were older, I would send them to take a bath while I got stuff done, but yours are not old enough for that yet. It is kind of a trick, I know that they will loose track of what they are doing and just play, so I have more time to get stuff done, and I know where they are and what they are doing. At the end, I go in and make them actually wash, but not until I am ready to have them back under foot...

Hope that helps!

Dr. Mel Lavine and Dr. Russell Barkely have really good books with strategies that will be helpful too, especially once you get into school.

M.

I can really relate. The techniques that work with regular kids just don't work with kids with ADHD. For the time when her medication isn't active (I'm assuming she's being treated?), find the activities that cause her to hyperfocus. Have you tried video games for her age group? LEGOs are also quite good for kids with ADHD -- and they make them now for girls. Our son gets so caught up in LEGOs, he doesn't think to throw them. Another activity that has worked well for our son is a scavenger hunt. Depending on your daughter's reading skills, you could give her a long list of random things around the house to find. This type of thing involves order (check off items on a list) and curiosity, which is particularly appealing to kids with ADHD. I know what you mean about the physical activities. Unless you can monitor things extremely closely, they tend to get out of hand. Our son spent a lot of his early years climbing the kitchen counter and table tops, so I can relate. He still runs across the sofa and chairs when his medication isn't active.

Good luck!

Please consider looking at what they are eating. If they eat foods that contain sugar and hidden sugars like high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup or sugar substitutes that can cause problems as well as food additives and colorings. Try removing anything of these things as well as wheat and dairy and juice if they have it. See if giving them whole foods and healthy snacks makes a difference. Try staying away from the boxed items for a while. Usually ADD or ADHD in children that young is a result in diet or food intolerances. Remove foods for a week or so and see if there is a difference. I bet you will be surprised!
Good luck

Have tried looking into into sleep. My daughter had similar problems from 18m to present 4 and it was two whole years before she had a sleep study. We found that she had severe sleep apnea even after we had seen improvement when we pull her off milk. This puts them at risk for lots of thing as well as ADHD. Since it is in your family I would suggest taking a class. Their is a excellent Class on a CD. Great for going around your schedule. It puts everything in prespective of the child and gives lots of ideas to help channel and keep the focus. It is meant for teacher but I thought it is helpful for parent also. www.virtualedu.com I took several of these classes since I wasn't recieving any help from doctors and I too was on my own when I was expecting my youngest and then a newborn. Plus she orginally stop speaking all together so we didn't have any idea what was wrong. So I tried to educate myself as much as I could to find a way to help her with the root of the problem. I agree punishment when a child is not in-control will just destroy the trust and your relationship between you. After surgery, we still have a long road but at least we have elimatinated one contributing factor.

Good Luck.
I have been there.

My son LOVED to play with rice - I would load up a really deep, wide pan with rice and let him go to town with his trucks. The sensory stimulation was great. Exercise balls, the really, really big ones, also did wonders. Trying to get my son to figure out how to balance on the top (lying on his tummy) kept him busy for a good 30 minutes. Yoga, helps kids with ADHD make a connection between body and control, and keeps them busy. Same with Ti Chi and Karate and gymnastics. Those rhythm gymnastics ribbons, the ones attached to a stick, work wonders. Anything kinder-music - combines the movement with the audio and keeps my hyperactive child moving so I can get stuff done. And lastly, we finally broke down and got a Wii; my 4.5 year old could run it in a week and perfers the very active games (shocker) like baseball, golf, bowling and tennis. Best of luck!

Oh, I remember how difficult it was to get my daughter to entertain herself. I know what you mean by the t.v. Alot of the time, kids with ADHD need the background noise that the t.v. provides it helps them focus, my daughter goes nuts when the house is silent, we have to have the t.v. or radio on all the time even if she is not watching it. I just got through those days, day by day. But some of the things that worked SOMETIMES are: One of those small indoor trampolines for jumping inside, cardboard bricks for building houses, large boxes for coloring and making into forts. playdough and my cookie cutters and other kitchen equipment. My daughter liked anything that made a mess LOL. She is 8 now and it does get easier.

Dear friend,
OK. Here is advice that I would give myself:
1. Chill. One scripture that I try to keep in mind is this: "Be still and know that I am God." In other words, relax and calm down. Things are going to work out. You will always have a ton of work to do, I promise. So keep perspective on what is truly important. I am the kind of woman who loves to have a very clean home, very healthy/fresh meals, and order in my life. But having 7 children works against this. So I try to find ways to reduce my workload, keep meals simple while still healthy, and let go when things don't go as planned. My life is not a catalog cover, but it is wonderful. I have learned that things are still OK if they don't go my way :).
2. Give yourself a pat on the back. I loved a mother of 12 who was our Kindermusik teacher when I had 3 children under age 4. She would tell us to do this. I can see the wisdom in this. You are doing a GREAT job. Appreciate that the important thing is that you are trying, that each day is meant to be enjoyed, and you are doing SO much to try to help your children learn, grow, and thrive. Way to go! Hooray for you!
3. Enjoy your children. Focus on spending some time each morning and each afternoon doing something that is fun for each of you, even just for a few minutes. Think SMALL. Think HOME. Pop popcorn. Dance in the small space of your living room. Memorize a poem out loud with your children. Watch inspiring youtube videos. Let them think of what to do and make the mess of doing it. Start with reading a book that they choose at the library and let it lead you to an idea that sounds fun. Pray about it: God knows your children and their personalities much better than you do, so He can lead you to ideas that will help them. Don't over structure your life so that you have flexibility to do fun things mixed in with the must-do's, so there is time for you and for them to do what you need without added stresses. Involve your children in making the meal and cleaning it up. Magazines make it look like doing this can be done in a very tidy way, but the truth of the matter is that life is messy. We just have to allow for the mess and then help our children to clean up afterwards. The more fun you have as a mom WITH your children while they are young, the more happy memories you will have. (And you don't have to look "perfect" or pretty while doing it.) You won't remember each load of laundry that you did--that fades into oblivion, I promise. But the happy memories remain. These are the "June roses" that we get to keep "in the Decembers of our lives."
4. Keep perspective on the label. A good part of young children, those diagnosed with ADD/ADHD and those not, are extremely active and have short attention spans. This helps me relax when I feel frustrated with a very active child. All children are incredibly multi-faceted and unfathomable in their depth. It is such a privilege as a mother to watch their gifts and personalities unfold over time. Focus on what you learn about them and keep a record of the wonderful things they are learning and doing. Keep them learning. Each one of my children has been strong-willed, bright, active, and EXHAUSTING! It is a challenging and an amazing journey, and you are doing great! Keep smiling.
I wish you the best. We are comrades in arms!
L.

you've had some great responses. I just wanted to add a resource www.additudemag.org (it might be dot com - I can't remember~!). It's a great online resource on a wide variety of reliable information.

This is a really good website with information on all kinds of health issues.
http://www.everydayhealth.com/
If you hover over "Health A-Z" you can pick ADD/ADHD. I get different newsletters from them. There is all kinds of information you can find on the site.

I just looked and noticed a blog listed on the site that had an article
"An Innovative Way to Help ADHD Kids Control Extra Energy"
http://www.everydayhealth.com/blog/a-doctors-personal-tak...

This has some things to do for behavior - for positive reinforcement
http://www.everydayhealth.com/adhd/living-with/tips/adhd-...

Playtime article
http://www.everydayhealth.com/adhd/living-with/tips/toys-...

Hi--
I'm a little late but I have some ideas. First, my background is with children like yours (I hate labels!). I'm sure you know that setting and keeping strong boundaries helps, as well as giving them a predictable schedule (not always easy, I know). Using a timer for activities so they know how long they last and when to move on can be helpful. Channeling the energy--giving them a sponge to mop the floor, for instance.
From a natural remedies stand point there are a few things you can try to help them focus and stay calm without changing who they are in any way. My son responds well to inositol--it's in the B-vitamin family and helps to calm the brain and nervous system. It comes in a powder and is very sweet. Not too much, though, as it can cause diarrhea if you use too much. You can also try a product by Wish Garden called chamomile calm---it doesn't have any sedatives so it won't cause drowsiness, but it can calm them down a bit so they can focus. Also, Bach's flower remedies makes a homeopathic to help kids stay calm.
Finally you could try yoga. They have programs for kids and lots of people have had great success going this route.
Just some thoughts.
J.

I just wanted to say I feel for you. I have twin boys with adhd and autism on top of that. I used the tv a lot. For two reasons one just so I could get something done and two I never ever saw them have a attention span for anything until 18 months old and I put a pooh tape on for them. They sat and watched the whole movie and didnt move once. I couldnt believe it. I summed it up to what was going on on the tv was moving as fast as their little minds. Sadly the only thing that seemed to help or work for my boys was their medication but we had to take them off because they also have seizures and the adhd made them more active. Sorry I dont have any advise really just wanted to let you know you are not alone.

Oh and I would like to add that sugar does nothing to my boys if not chill them out. As does coffee. Many parents with adhd kids will occasionally give them a caffeinated drink when the hyperactivity gets way up there. Like the stimulant meds it calms them down. I dont do it often because it is short lived but for most kids with adhd sugars and caffeinated drinks do not make it worse for them it has the opposite affect.