Physical hobbies for a 3 year old with ASD

[AprilSkies]

What hobbies do your kids like? Thinking about horse riding or a karate based group for DS. Just wondering what activities you found successful in building confidence.

My ASD son loves horse-riding. We had a big issue about his oversensitivity to the smell but he likes it enough to get over that. He finds swimming lessons hard (noise, lights, movment) but enjoys it so much that he gets over it.
Have failed at martial arts (tried several times- he's sensitive to movement and behaviour went south) running (track) nope, no can do. Field sports- not a hope.

We now do tots gymnastics, wish we'd started it earlier. There are commercial ones and council ones, so if you live in a city there should be some choice. It follows a pattern every week so they can get the hang of it.
Growing an In Sync child has suggestions for every day activities.
Am giving ds an indoor trapeze for his birthday.
Walking to school/shops/library etc every day
balance bike was just fab on its own and because ds was then riding a pedal bike at 3 which made him seem much cooler than he is!

Skiing is DS's biggest hobby - started at 2, now really really serious at almost 6.
Karate - started at 4
Swimming - took 3 different pools/swim schools before we found the one that 'fits', now very good
Cycling

Can't do team activities at all - tots football was a nightmare!

My ADHD dd started taekwondo at 3.5 and has a good friend there who has asd. They are both 8 now and progressing really really well!!! They are both perfectionists so the hobby suits them well!

I think most of the people here have alread hit the right sorts of activities to do. No team sports, seems to be the rule, or ball games. Where they can work at their own pace ie swimming Karate, etc.

What I would say is that getting a good teacher who understands your childs needs is the most important thing. Someone who is experienced or at least sympathetic as it is about the whole experience and not being put off by negative teachers. Remember at this age it's all about enjoying themselves and carrying on into a long term love. So you don't want a rubbish teacher putting them off. Look long term rather than for any actual immediate results so something they can carry on enjoying for the rest of their lives. Gaining these skills early can give them confidence when they become more aware of their problems. My dd did horseridding when she was very young, from 2, but we stopped it and now she won't do it any more as she feels too aware of herself.

Although ball sports tend to be too hard for ASD to practice in with mainstream, although all children are different, it's really important for ASD children to gain good ball skills as it helps with their had eye coordingation and my dd did intensive ball skills through her OT and really helped with her sensory intergration.

DS loves his trampoline and so spends alot of time on that.
We are quite lucky that we live close to lots of open spaces and woods, so we do alot of walking/running around.

A pet! Caring for a pet helps no end with empathy, and area that's sometimes tricky with asd. For his 4th Birthday he got his best friend - a dog (we chose a young adult whippet rescue). The dogs theraputic benefit over the years has been incalcuable from helping him with empathy to helping with icebreaking in social situations. (DO NOT get a staff or similar if you want the dog to aid social skills development - nice old ladies and parents of potential play mates running to get away from a "scary dog" is not your aim - choose a calm non-threatening breed).

Dog walking has meant DS has had conversations with people from all walks of life that woudn't he wouldn't have done otherwise. He's made friends with other dog owners from children to pensioners & that has had a great knock on effect on his confidence in other social situations. If he's had a falling out with someone at school, a cuddle with his best friend always stops him taking it too much to heart and to go in the next day with the courage to resove any squabbles.

Veggie growing as lots of asd kid self-restrict their diets. If they grow the veggies they eat them and pottering on the veggie patch is amazingly stress relieving for a kid who may be feeling a bit overwhelmed after school/nursery. A great sense of accomplishment was gained by DS from his veggie patch, which in turn built his confidence - especially when his best friend agreed his strawberries were yum!

Any sort of arts and crafts club or gathering (lots of summer playschemes, museums etc run workshops). The focus is the craft but cos it's a structured activity it gives a ready made conversation topic with the other children.

Swimming - DS loves but hard to find appropriate teachers, same for tae kwondo.

Thanks so much everyone, definitely agree with a hobby that they can do at own pace and build gently. We have cats so a dog is not an option for now. I also think the point about supportive fun teachers is key.

A 3 year old can "be in charge" of feeding the cats ; ) DS had a kitten for hs 3rd birthday. Interaction with an animal is non-verbal and does seriously help build empathy skills in little ones. Less potentially scary for a 3 year old than a horse iykwim.

Anything that involves "exploring their world" at 3 one of DS's favourite activities was looking at the flowers/collecting leaves etc in our local Church yard. The idea is to counter the isolation associated with ASD's. Run with interests and try and extend them beyond the "obsession" e.g from DS's interest in cockroaches last year he was "moved onto" Ladybirds (far more pleasant for me! ) and this year is breeding his own stick insects.

I would love to get a whippet bochead but I've read that they are a bit scared of children. What do you think?

Actually the poop scooping also puts me off getting a dog.