Ahh! Nine year old and broken leg. Non-screen based ideas to help us stop going mad?!

[Poodlyy]

My nine year old has just broken his leg! Which is a disaster as he is a very active kid.

Can anyone help me with non screen based ideas to stop him from going bonkers? (we’ve got the screen-based ones covered!)

Lego or dumbbells as PP said.
Juggling beanbags or balls?
Could you get him a pull up bar for his bedroom door so he can do upper body strength if he needs to burn off energy?
Borrow a keyboard or electric guitar to see if he'd get into music.
Try him with some really addictive teen spy books like Anthony Horowitz Alex Rider series - loads of action, details on high spec sports gear and bikes etc - very well suited to appeal to active boys who don't normally read. They got my DS hooked on reading at that age. I think Skeleton key is the first in the series and Pint Blanc is incredible. I stayed up all night reading it myself!

What about dominoes?

It's quite a simple game but fun and really good for learning to be quick at maths if you play all fives or all threes. Or you can make up your own rules and do all fours, all sevens - whatever you like really.

You need at least two to play but you can add in more players easily.

I wish I'd been taught to play dominoes at that age. Instead I was expected to learn all my times tables off by heart, which I was rubbish at. If it had been a game, I'd have picked it up really easily.

Plant some cress seeds or similarly fast growing herbs
find something to restore - old stained glass window, old door knocker to polish up etc
magnifying glass and slides
telescope
binoculars and bird guide

Genius square
large dot to dot books

I absolutely love these ideas! Thank you! I’m trawling through.

He did it on a trampoline at his friend’s house. Two of them were on it and the hospital said this is why! Awful!

I was standing watching them - before it happened - thinking “how fun, maybe we should get a trampoline” and now we’re never getting a trampoline!

Trampolines are a nightmare. Having more than 1 person on them hugely increases the force and makes injuries more likely/more severe. Poor boy!

My suggestion is screen based but practical - a learn to touch type programme. Useful skill for future.

Learning to play a musical instrument?

Yes the doctor told us that’s probably why it happened. A lesson we learned the hard way!

He has been talking for ages about learning to play the guitar - I like this idea!

Learn BSL or Makaton...

If he's interested it, could you give him a learn to code course or build your own website course? It's screen based but very practical!

There are some fun board games that take all night with enough players, like Ticket to Ride, that kind of thing. But then you need other players to also have the spare time.

How about designing or making something that he's interested in? Like some artwork or those little figurines some people like to paint or making a game? Plenty of science based kits to do things like grow your own crystals that he might like.

I'm sure I read somewhere that the ukulele is quite straightforward to learn, and easier than the guitar. Might be a nice easy introduction.

Smart Games are good. They are like board games for one person.