Safe Activities for a Child with a Broken Arm

January 29, 2020 in Family

Safe Activities for a Child with a Broken Arm

A broken arm is not something that I have even considered before. However, on the day after my daughter’s fifth birthday she managed to break her arm. To make matters worse, we had just arrived at our holiday home in the Lake District with friends when she decided to leap off the stairs. Apparently she was being a super hero. Of course, not only were we on holiday, but it was the Christmas holidays! Thankfully it wasn’t on Christmas Day itself, and she was given a pretty pink cast to wear for the following three weeks.

It did make things slightly awkward whilst we were away, but not impossible. We had to consider how she could wear her warm clothes and get her coat on over her broken arm. In the first few days, her arm was painful and getting into jumpers was a delicate task. Then there was the instruction of no running or jumping. When the Calpol had kicked in, she was ready to leap around again! Being in the Lake District also meant long country and hilly walks, so we had to make sure she didn’t fall.

Still Able to Get out and About

When your child sometimes forgets they have a broken arm, you occasionally do too. Until they get the party invite to the soft play (which happened twice while she had her cast on) and they can’t go out on the new bike they got for Christmas.

Things then start to feel restrictive but it doesn’t have to be. You can still go out and you can still play, but you do have to be careful what you do and where to go. It’s important to keep active, but you don’t want further injuries if your child falls on their broken arm.

Definitely avoid walks out where there is a park nearby. If your child sees the climbing frame or swings, they may get upset that they cannot risk hurting themselves on them.

What to Avoid when your Child has a Broken Arm:

Play parks and Adventure playgrounds
Riding a bike or scooter
Swimming or anything where the cast could get wet (unless they have a waterproof cast)
Running, jumping, trampolining
Soft play
Football with a hard ball or contact sports
Crafts with glitter/sand/slime or anything else that can end up stuck inside the plaster cast

Many other physical activities would be incredibly difficult as well as risky on the injury, such as gymnastics or horse riding.

What Activities are Safe with a Broken Arm?

Life with a broken arm doesn’t have to be dull! There are still loads to do! Here are some ideas to keep your superhero entertained:

Activity books such as spot the difference, dot to dot or word searches if they are able to hold a pen properly
Reading together. This is a great opportunity to spend quality time with a book or practising to read
Colouring in or painting. If your child has broken the arm they usually draw with, see if they can make funny shapes or monsters
Potato printing. Cut a potato in half then cut out star shapes, hearts or anything you can do easily then let your child dip it in paint and then print onto paper
Movie afternoon. Make popcorn and settle your child on the sofa in a blanket to watch a film. Or better still, take them to the cinema for the real thing!
Take them on a nature trail. Look for insects and write down what you find. Or collect leaves to take home and make a collage or leaf rubbings
Play board games
Baking together
Allow them (limited) screen time on the tablet. It will feel like a treat!
Make a tent (indoors or out, depending on the weather). Your child can play with their toys, decorate with lights or invite a friend round
Day out at the zoo or wildlife park
Parachute game
Hide and seek
Dressing up
Day out out a National Trust place

Once the cast is off, your child may still need to take things easy for a week or so on the activity front. So rough and tumble games and soft play may still be on hold until everything has completely healed.