What fun activity can my DD do, to gain fitnes and help co-ordination?

[mummyloveslucy]

Hi, my DD is nearly 8 and has very poor co-ordination, poor muscle tone and is a bit over weight. She struggles at school with PE and gets very upset. She has to sit on a chair at carpet time, as she finds it very difficult getting down and up from the floor.
She has a private swimming lesson once a week, which she enjoys but that's all she has. We tried ballet, but she finds it too hard and too strict. All she wants to do is just dance her own way to the music.
The problem is, with any club she joins, the children will be about the same age and therefore, far more able than she is. She hates to be seen as different and gets very upset and frustrated if she can't do the same things.
She is quite a nervous child when it comes to physical activity. She's very scared of falling over or getting hurt.
Is there anything you can recommend?

I forgot to mention, she also has severe LD and finds it very hard to understand and follow instructions.

Do you think she would cope with a trampoline?

Trampolining is really good for muscle tone and coordination, you can have one in the garden or go to a sports centre although that would probably be in group.

Soft play is also great if you can go at a really quiet time. We used to go at 9.30 on a sunday morning!

We also do physio, every day ( if we remember). Fwiw poor muscle tone can make dc's look more overweight than they actually are, if you can improve the muscle tone you will probably feel less stressed about the weight.

Good luck

Oh yes I forgot Dd3 does lots of canoeing when the weather is warmer too. She hates cold hands so we have put it on hold for the moment.

She does like trampolienes. She can't ride a bike, even with stableizers. She can't seem to manage to peddle. Ice skating or rollor blading are a total no no. We tried skating once recently. She had a big polor bear thing to hold on to, but even then, I had to hold her as well as she went around the rink screaming and crying. (We didn't stay long)

Interesting that the poor muscle tone can make them look over weight. On her BMI, it says she's healthy, but on an NHS website it says she's obese! She's 4 foot 7and 6 stone 2 .

Did you look for any special needs sport clubs? They do take children of all ages, we have a very good one locally..

I found canoeing really helped my co-ordination. I was the fat kid at school and hated sport but discovered paddlesport in my 30s (!) and I'm the fittest now that I've ever been and can throw and catch after a fashion - I don't throw as accurately as my 1yo but I'm better than I was!

I coach kayak racing too; one of the most dedicated kids I've taught has ld.

A lot of clubs are involved with paddleability which is paddlesport for children and adults with all sorts of disabilities.

If she struggles getting up and down then canoeing is probably better than kayaking (higher seats) and it's something you could learn as a family. Infact, at our club we don't accept unaccompanied minors and generally the parents are on the water with the kids after a couple of weeks and often stick with it when the kids have moved on to something else!

I did have a look and there is a gymnastics and trampoliening centre that has a group for SEN's.
I was really shocked, as we live in quite a small town, with not a lot on offer. I'll give them a ring.

sounds good :)

That sounds great. I'm sure she'd love that, but I'm not sure if we have any canoeing schools neer us, that would take a child with SEN's.
I have to be at all her clubs anyway,as she has toileting needs.

I've also found a dance school that offers ballet, tap, jazz and modern. I might give that a go and ask if she can try a session of each and see if any thing takes her fancy. Her old ballet school was strict and known for it's very high standards. This one, from what I've heard, sounds more relaxed.

The folks at the canoe club where Dd3 goes are not the slightest bit phased by having Dc's with special needs. Dd3 had a fantastic time through the summer sometimes canoeing 3 times a week.

I stay at the lake while she is there but at our club you have to stay with under 12's anyway. You could join as a family and go in with her!

Sounds like you had great ideas here and lots of stuff you've found yourself.
Core muscle strength is the key to most activities...would explain the problems getting up from the floor, looking overweight (poor strength to keep tummy and back taut).
Riding is great for that; so is swimming.
To me the key is the instructor...if they are sympathetic and understand that she cant follow instructions at the same speed or to the same finesse then everything else can follow.

I would suggest a dance school which offers non-exam based classes - maybe one attached to a drama group - or the kids zumba type classes. Sailing is surprisingly physical as is climbing , if you have a centre nearby.

I used to dance around the sitting room as a child to things like Strauss Waltzes (freestyle)..in those days dance at school was very free not ballet techniques, and when I had kids I've done loads of dancing with them in the sitting room, pretending to be things, waving our arms around. The boys are not at all co-ordinated, ds2 has ASD, Ds1 is rubbish at PE and possibly dyspraxic/overweight, so I think this was a very good way to get us all a bit coordinated, and great on a rainy day. Dd hates ballet (she tried three terms both as a 6/7 year old and as 9 year old but still hated it) but they all love "dancing", especially ASD child who uses it to express himself

So what you do with her at home can be as good as anything. I still love to do silly dancing with my children and they are 10 year x 2, and 12.

Btw, ds2 is quite good at sport now, and ds1 dyspraxia may have been helped by this to extent that he is still not been diagnosed (in process of it) and did lots of outdoors stuff quite happily (although rubbish at team sports)

Riding is expensive, but great for building confidence in right child. Ds2 hated riding, Ds1 was getting hang of it but rubbish at it to start with, dd loves it. But in the end too expensive
Swimming has been brilliant for all, lots of messing around sort of swimming, with other people, rather than just lessons.
Climbing frames are also great way of building core strength, as balance, coordination, confidence, strength all involved.

Hi, she did try riding and did enjoy it, but I don't think it was much excercise for her, as she just sat there and was taken around. She had to steer, throw hoops into baskets etc. She did trot, but not a rising trot. She just bounced about, laughing.
In the end, I thought it was too much of a dangerous sport. It's all very well now, but if she became more into it. My mum has had horses all her life and is a fantastic rider and she's had several accidents where she's lucky to be alive.

My ds does donkey riding once a week (for free) through the Elisabeth Svensson Trust & its really helped his low muscle tone. Understand your concerns though!

Riding is really good for core strength as you constantly need to adjust posture to keep balance , even at low speeds. Hacks, initially on a leading rein, rather than jumping might be beneficial.

Get a scooter if she can't manage a bike yet - DS has one and it's been a revelation, and you can also get the cool 'stunt' ones for about £40 - the bonus being that the nt kids round here use them so he doesn't stand out as not being able to ride his bike.

Also - and I know it's ££££ - we got an Xbox with kinect for the family for Christmas and its been fantastic. They don't use controllers (DS has poor hand/eye co-ordination) the machine 'reads' their body and there's lots of sports and dance games. Really, really good fun. DS hasn't sat down since Christmas day. They are dear though, but I would imagine there will be a few on eBay now, or you could ask for money for her next birthday/Christmas?

Scooter - DS had a micro - 3 wheels at the front easy to ride and heaps of fun (he has dyspraxia)

Horseriding - amazing for confidence, but think she would probably be better in private lessons where the instructor can just focus on her - this is how DS started - and I know this can be expensive. What about riding for disabled - I know she is not disabled technically but maybe you could ask them?
If you can stretch to riding lessons - where DS and I ride offer 1/2 private, it would give her the start and then she could move into a group? At DS RS they do walk trot classes for beginners and the beginners always have someon leading them for trot - so the kids can get a "feel" of trot without having to control the pony. Also ask at school if the have any experience of SN. At DS RS they have a group that are all children with some form of SN, and DS riding instructor has dyslexia, dyscalcula and mild dyspraxia - she can remember the frustration as a child. Incidentally she is also now a top competitive rider, representing her county. (Dressage and showing, not jumping). You have to be fit to ride, and is so good for core strength, so fab for sitting. re-reading your original post I would say 1/2 an hour to start with would be best - I think an hour would exhaust her, and you want it to be fun. DS started out with 1/2 hour lessons.

Martial art - this can be really reasonable, but the key is the right Club. Ds did Tae Kwon Do in Dubai and has just started karate here. I couldn't find a TKD club with the right attitude, but have found a Karate club just down the road, and the master is amazing - fantastic with kids. Lots of groups run mix age groups, so her ability wouldn't necessary stand out. Focus is very much on oneself....also because martial arts are often recommended for children with co-ordination issues, there seems to be a higher proportion there!

I think the key is finding things where their successes (not matter how small) are celebrated, and they are not asked to compete against other kids, but just do there best.

Bike - 18 months ago ds would not even try to ride a bike, he now goes mountian biking with DH, it took a while and alot of effort on our part to get him there, but he loves it. So just don't rule it out.

Oh and we just got an Xbox kinnect - fab, the energy he uses, but man he has to concentrate to co-ordinate.

to help her getting the hang of peddling - you could try doing cross crawl? I had to do t very slowly with ds, lying on floor on back, hand to op knee, then the other side, couldn't believe he couldn't do it to start with - then we graduated to standing up, and now a youtube brain gym sequence. I used to do it with him, and i couldn't believe the difference it made to my core.
We used to do it every morning before school.