hobbies to build confidence please

[nuttyredhead]

Hey all,
looking for ideas for hobbies,ds8 has dyspraxia.He lacks confidence and we want to get him into something he will enjoy and build his confidence. I have asked him what he would like to do and he does'nt know!We tried a climbing club but he got bored easy with it.
What do your children enjoy?

Hi, we are struggling to find something for dd1, would he like to go to Cubs/scouts? How about martial arts? We were thinking of trying dd1 with gymnastics as he's very bendy and i thought it might help her low muscle tone.

Hey Marne,
Thanks,some really good ideas their.I will look our local cub group,bound to be some kids there he knows,which is even better.
Total brain fog today i cud not think of anything at all!!
good luck in your search.I thought of horse riding good for balance and core stability.

I have been trying to get dd1 on a horse for years , she wont even try, Dd2 loves horses but it would be nice if i could take both of them. Dd1 also wants to join a football club but i'm worried it will give her less confidence as she can not run very fast (i guess she could go in goal).

Cubs is excellent.

My DS, aged 9, with mild ASD loves warhammer ( Games Workshop ). At 9 he is one of the youngest there, but if you think it's too hard for your son, maybe remember in a couple of years time? It requires no co-ordination, and it's great for their social skills.

Apart from that he does choir and gardening at school.

What do you enjoy doing as a family? What have other members of your family enjoyed doing when they were little? Would it be possible to learn a sport as a family (sailing? canoeing? skating?), enabling him to learn at his own pace so that he doesn't feel that his physical differences start him at a disadvantage compared to other children of the same age.

I think that clubs available for 8 year olds tend to be pretty main stream - partly so they have members, partly because some sports aren't suitable for younger children. However snorkelling now may translate into joining a scuba club later.

This may sound bizarre but DS1 goes to cricket lessons, and they work really well for him.

It's a team sport (really good for a boy to take part in one of those) but unlike football you don't really have to anticipate what lots of other people are doing (there's loads of hard to understand social codes in football).

In cricket on the other hand, you're kind of on your own either bowling or batting, and you do one thing again and again and it's more like single combat. Plus because you work quite intensively on one skill at a time (eg throwing accurately) it's good for dyspraxia (which ds1 has in addition to AS).

The only problem is the obnoxious private school kids who go to the lessons but as DS1 is oblivious that's not such an issue for him!

Sport is always good for any child, so I advise you find the sport he enjoys. My daughter she loves music and instruments, so we let her play her drum and piano at her own rhythm. I think with all children you have to experiment. It might take longer than normally it would, but it`s well worth it.
Good Luck