Cozy nurturing things to do with active 6 year old

[ilkleymoorbartat]

My ds is very active, finds it hard to wind down. He's really missing school and finding the local down particularly hard.
Apart from the usual duvet day, movie, reading books can anyone suggest any nice calm and nurturing activities we could do together that will make him feel good?

Annoying he doesn't like playing board games or puzzles so those are out!

How about something creative and tactile, like play dough? I tend to find fine motor activities work well for settling children that age, as it provides them something to focus on. You could try searching eyfs fine motor skills on Pinterest for ideas, I'm thinking of things like balancing blocks, posting objects etc.

Have you played uno with him before...it's a lovely simple card game.

Pen and paper and play hangman or noughts and crosses

Origami? You can buy nice simple sets for kids...my dd loved it

Lego?

Yoga?

I also like fimo clay...comes in cute little colourful blocks and you can make things with it.

Teach him to knit

Play vets with stuffed animals and wrap them in toilet paper?

Really lovely ideas here!

Hama beads
Making a den then reading or whatever with some glow sticks and a torch
Not exactly cosy but my 6 year old will dance for ages with bluetooth headphones and access to my spotify account!

Waxidoodles are a big hit here - strips of wax you can make into almost anything, and re-use!
Or something I read on here - 5 things you can hear, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can see, 2 things you can taste, 1 thing you can smell (not sure of the order, or if it matters! More of a mindfulness thing, I think).

My ds is 6, he loves lego and aqua beads.

With my 4 year old, on rainy days we like baking together, and then decorating the biscuits / cakes afterwards with a bit of coloured icing. But kneading bread dough is great too, and shaping into buns. The aim is to have fun, watch what happens to the ingredients and how to mix them. If its edible at the end, that’s a bonus!

Or we get the play doh out / or salt dough, and make food for a teddy bears tea party, and then have the party! I let him make tea as well with warm water (he has to learn at some point right...!?)

Or we get a big cardboard box and colour and decorate it together (i hate paint / mess, so usually use a roll of tape and we stick bits onto the box). We turn it into a post box / a den / a rocket etc etc

Or if you’re feeling brave, some science experiments with baking soda and vinegar! Or cornflour and water. Or get some slime kits and make slime.

Or if weather permits, outside in the garden with a garden hose and wash bikes/ the path/ water the plants etc. It’s not particularly calm/relaxing but fun!

Great ideas here, place marking

Slime is a popular choice with my two. I also design wacky indoor obstacle courses to for them.

Pop up tent (inside of course!) or make a cosy den together?Decorating cakes and biscuits is always nice too. Enjoy your time together. I miss my 6 year old now teen! Although she is still lovely 😍

Thank you all! Lovely ideas. I just want to cuddle him all the time but he's constantly on the move and all his worries come out at bedtime. I've brought him into bed with me tonight as snoring away next to me as we speak.

The pressure to catch up on school work during the day is getting to us all I think!

Lego, kinetic sand, spirograph and playdough are big hits in our house. My ds6 also likes bleep test, setting up his own raffle, disco, using torches to put on a light/shadow show, traffic survey, hiding spoons around the house, making his own treasure hunt.

Collect all your cardboard empties , plastic odds - bottle tops, plastic strip off online shopping bags , anything. Make castles , robots etc.

Make a cardboard house / barn. Then make play dough people and animals to go in it.

Fabric pens and old white T-shirt.

Lego and jigsaws can be calming. Ditto word game apps. Our DS likes word noodles and one that is a cross between sudoku and Tetris currently. He likes the more adult colouring books and we try and challenge him to a drawing competition when we want him to sit and be still for a while.

I try and wind down our DC by reading to them at bedtime in a dim light. Re the worries - DS school has a worry box so the children can write their worries down and leave them in the box so they don't have to worry about them when they leave to go home.

A friend with an anxious DC has done similar at home and it has worked wonders.

I put lavender essential oil in our DC baths and I have an electric wax warmer in the oldest room with a lavender wax in. It feels soothing to me I guess!

Really nice ideas everyone, thank you so much!

I've bought some knitting needles and some of the other suggestions too. Dens are always a winner and I love the obstacle race idea (not calming but maybe good to focus his energy). Thanks all!

Make a giant board game for him on the floor. It doesnt take as long as youd think, just mark out the lines in masking tape and place bits of paper with specific challenges on some squares (do 10 push ups, run up and down the stairs, hop on one leg, what is 6+6) and the typical board game stuff (roll again, miss a turn, go forward 2, go back 3 etc etc on others). Then get a dice (normal size or giant if you can be bothered to make one) on the others. Admittedly it isnt super cosy, but with mine I find it works better when he is slightly active. And you can adjust the challenges according to energy/concentration levels

Also drawing, but often his artwork will be Iron man attacking the hulk or similar (so not that peaceful or nurturing) but at least he is sitting down.

(I know you said he doesnt like playing board games. But for some reason giant board games where each player is their own piece are more appealing)

Cosmic Kids yoga could be perfect. Movement followed by relaxation. All very positive. How about starting to learn an instrument together. Cooking and baking would be good. My dd enjoys making bath bombs to give as presents- it’s quite fun and tactile if he would enjoy that.

Fuzzy felts