I don’t know what to do with son after school

[Pumpkinpastie]

My 5 year old started reception full time in September.
He’s an only child.

When the weather was still nice and it wasn’t pitch black by 4:30pm he was playing at the park across our road with some of the neighbourhood kids. Or we would play with him over there, he could go on the swings , kick a football around and so on.

Now it’s dark and freezing, I have no idea what to do!
He always seems full of energy when he gets home from school and usually ends up jumping on the bed.

I can’t really afford a club or hobby (I’m on universal credit and a low income, just about managing my income)

I have enquired about beavers , but he can’t start until he’s 6 and even then there’s a long waiting list.

I sometimes do a cosmic kids yoga video on YouTube with my DC after dinner if they are being too boisterous...sometimes it works to calm them down.

Library?

My town has free swimming after school in council pools for kids (but you would have to pay for you)

Baking or crafts maybe?

DD (also an only child) used to like

Simple board games (Orchard great and have seen in charity shops plus Christmas is coming up)
Jigsaws
Play dough
Drawing/colouring
Picture consequences
Active games on a secondhand old-style Wii off eBay (yes, screen time but at least moving around - lots of sports style games)
Hide and seek in the house (appreciate hard if you haven't got much space)
Swimming (well, she didn't actually like this much but it's good for them and you can usually get a discount if on benefits so maybe once a month or something)
Jumping on the bed (well, as long as the bed doesn't get broken, why not? Hers was on the floor so low breakage risk)
Building a fort out of chairs and blankets and retiring to it with a torch and four billion soft toys
TV (genuinely think CBeebies and CBBC honestly not the worst way for a child to spend their time)
PC games like Moshi Monsters etc (again, screen time but you have to try and read to play it so a good incentive to practise this)
Being read to
Having a friend round for tea (bonus is they will probably get invited back and you get a little time to yourself and/or a coffee with the other mum)
Putting on music and dancing (get him to work with you on building his own playlist, we only had the free version of Spotify at the time and it was fine for this)
Using an old digital camera to film everything pointlessly
Cooking something with me

Do your local scouts have squirrels yet? For 4-6 year olds

I was just going to suggest Squirrels as well.

Do you have a garden? Could you get him a trampoline or a slide or something?

We had a small space hopper which was very heavily used at that age - no use if you're in a flat, though.

If you can cope with the "freezing", then a walk to see houses that have got lights up might run off a bit of energy. (We have "Christmas windows" locally - a new one is revealed each day and the address posted so we know where to look.)

Great list from BonjourCrisette.

Joe Wicks workouts? Are his ones he did for kids in lockdown still available?

Thanks for all the advice.

The other problem is we have a very small house (think one room for eating and sitting) and no garden.

Can his Christmas presents include a head torch and a light up football? You can then go out & play in the dark. Everyone else thinks you're mad but your son will be happy and tired out speaks from experience!

Go for a walk with a torch. See if he can use the light to find insects or particular leaves, or guess what colours things are in the dark then shine the torch on them to confirm.

I know these are always suggested in a kind way but they’re the most impractical ideas ever. Firstly the mess. Maybe I’m doing it wrong but you spend longer cleaning up than you did on the activity. Secondly the cost - spending ££ on all the ingredients for cupcakes when you can buy a packet of them for £2. My first batch usually comes out a bit dodgy and gets wasted. Craft materials are also not cheap. And thirdly the stress stopping your kid enthusiastically trying to touch a hot oven or throw glitter all over the carpet.

I can’t imagine anything worse on a dark Wednesday night if I’m honest!

I have enquired about beavers , but he can’t start until he’s 6 and even then there’s a long waiting list

Get him on the waiting list now.

Also enquire to other Scout groups as some may have Squirrels which is for 4 and 5 year olds.

Lego. Lots of Lego. Football Cards, old Disney videos, find an obsession. The Autumn Term is the longest and eventually your ds will become knackered and get with the 'season' after a period of hyperactivity.

Not that you'll notice as you'll be knackered yourself.

Won't he watch tv or play on ipad like most kids? To unwind after a busy day.

Second getting head torches and going out for an explore. You'll definitely start to see Christmas lights too. Does Pokémon go still exist? Mine used to like this. Or geocaching. Is there a children's version of couch to five k? Children's park run is free, 2km on a Sunday morning. Your D's could really see an improvement in times if goes for a jog two or three times a week. Start slowly and build up. Sparklers and hot chocolate one day for a treat? Sparklers were only a pound a packet I think.

You need to get his name on the waiting list for beavers now then!
unless you live somewhere rural that doesn’t have street lights then go for a walk after school - it’s a good time of year to go looking for festive lights or Pokémon go, or geocaching.

Not helpful if you can’t afford it but my ds went to after school club as he was very high energy after school and needed to run about.

Have you looked into youth football? I know you haven't got a lot to spend but it's not expensive around here.

It's tricky when they're full of physical energy and you don't have a lot of space at home or money/time to take them out.

How do you travel to/from school? Could he walk, scoot or cycle? Even in winter if you're going home around 3.15 it's ok for kids to scoot/cycle on the pavement as long as they have lights, helmet and reflective clothing. That will kill some time and help him to burn off some energy.

Agree with PPs suggestion to go out with torches especially if you can find interesting routes eg to see Christmas lights or whatever.

Does his school offer clubs for reception age? My DS's school has limited clubs for the little ones but there are one or two.

Agree with PPs about Squirrels, it's worth finding out if any of the local Scouts offer it.

There might be other free/cheap activities run by the children's centres, libraries etc... near me there are various things.

I tend to take DS to the library after school once a week, if yours would enjoy choosing a few books that could work.

At home even without much space you can play "floor is lava", my two always enjoy that and end up burning energy.

Cosmic Kids yoga is really good - we did some in lockdown - and there must be other videos with physical activity to follow.

Have a look at your local soft play.

I've got 2 very active boys and we tend to go there once or twice a week after school. They have an after school offer which is £3 for 3.30pm till 6pm (obviously you can leave before 6pm if need be).

They also go to a youth club at local church one night, it's free, they play games and come home worn out!

I have an only child and he does swimming one day a week but nothing else. I don't feel any pressure to do anything with him after school, he mostly just comes in, gets a snack and puts the telly on. We sit at the table and eat dinner together and talk about his day and then it's bath/bedtime and we do his reading book before bed.

I do have health issues which might be a factor, as I can't live a very active lifestyle myself.

I used to finish at the same time as ds and we’d be home by 3:30 with the evening stretching out ahead of us - other dc are older and dh does the cooking so I didn’t have to do much other than a bit of housework which I used to come home during my lunch hour and do most of.
We used to go swimming a couple of afternoons but we both have gym membership. Also they have loads of other clubs that he might choose to do so I’d book him into something if he fancied and I’d go to the gym.
Didnt mind so much on the other days if all he wanted to do was sit and game or watch telly although he did and often still does get involved in making dinner.
can you get him to help make really simple Christmas crafts like paper chains? Not messy and he can decorate his room.
He could help by writing his name in Christmas cards to his school friends if he’s going to send any.
Can you walk the long way home to stretch it out a bit? Via a shop to get stuff for dinner, he can hold the list?
My youngest is now 12, I finish at 4:30 and as I wfh we still go swimming afterwards a couple of times a week!

Does your local library have a Lego club?

We can’t put his name down on the waiting list until he’s 6, or the month before at the earliest, which seems crazy to me!

Turn the music up and dance! That's what we do!