Suggestions to Wear Out High Energy 5 Year Old Boy

outdoors. theres something about fresh air and free running around that just wipes kids out. trust me, im a child care provider. its the fresh air that makes all the difference. :D

hope it works for you~!

Both of my kids seem to be more full of energy these days as well. I think at my house we all have spring fever. I try to send mine outside everyday. Boys just naturally have a lot of energy and need to work it out. I notice that my son sleeps so much better after an afternoon outside if the temp allows.

My mother in law does daycare and takes the kids outside every day. When it is too muddy in the lawn she takes them for a walk around the block. She has them look for animals or listen for different sounds to make them more interested. When the weather doesn't cooperate she lets them run around in the garage. Sometimes she tells them just to run in a large circle. They love it! Another thing she does is to turn on the music and let them dance.

We used to have a tile floor and let the kids bring their scooters in for the winter. I also got some yoga cards for kids. They have different poses on each one. I thought my daughter would enjoy them, but it is my son who pulls them out by himself. He is also 5. He has me tell him what he needs to do to get into the certain pose. (it shows in different steps how to do it) It is quiet, but uses up a lot of his energy. I got them from Barefootbooks.com

K. - I totally understand. I have a high energy son, he was actually a very challenging child (still is to some point). He is now 16 and believe it or not that energy level serves him very well. School was a little difficult early on but he's adjusted and he plays hockey and baseball which keeps him active all year long.

My suggestion is to get him on a bike or inline skates now that it's spring. Enroll him for various sports programs, basketball and soccer are great energy uses as well as swimming. Hopefully you have a carrier for the 2 year old on your bike so you can all go biking together.

The other thing I would do is limit the amount of sugar and high glycemic carbs he eats (high glycemic carbs turn to sugar in your body). I never purchase pop for at home, we have very little cookies, candy, ice cream, etc in our home. Now that my son is 16, he eats that stuff at his friends but we limit what we have at home. There's always apples, bannanas, pears, etc on the counter for him to choose.

It does get easier and some day you will be thankful for all the gifts God has given him including "energy."

BTW - my son was never diagnosed with ad/hd and I'm very thankful no one ever suggested medicating him. I would try anything except medication.

Good luck

I had the same issue with my oldest son. 1st we don't allow wrestling in our home AT ALL. It gets my son too wired and someone or something usually ends up injured. For my own sanity, I had to say no to it. We did try to wear him out during the day but that didn't really matter. He never had a sleeping issue, he was just on the go whenever awake, and loud right up until bedtime, then he would fall asleep and sleep well all night. We found quiet things in the home & outside to do. We had more structure. He had plenty of outdoor play all day long at his daycare, and lots of physical activities. We quieted the house down by finding more relaxing things to do that took some concentration & focus. We started with the things he enjoyed most and made up acivities with them as the theme. He loves to make believe and loves dinosaurs. So, we went thrift shopping and got a lot of Magic Treehouse books, and dinosaur books and started to read to him-he loved it and he stayed quiet to listen. We dug out the puzzles, board games, crayola activities, play-doh, blankets (to make tents),etc. For us it wasn't about running the energy off, it was about funneling that energy somewhere else and learning some self control. Building a garden outside to watch it grow and tend to it was fun and created some responsibility. He also found joy in Webkinz. Those little stuffed animals that you buy that you can use for a virtual animal online. Very kid friendly. We also started playing video games & computer I SPY-we LOVE, LOVE I SPY or search and find books & games!! All those things helped to calm him down, AND we found things for him to do that he enjoyed so much, he watched his behavior better so he could do them. We go to the library an extra day in the week for good behavior, allow video games if good at school, etc. You can do alot of those things outside too. Set a blanket down and read, do a puzzle, play break the ice,etc. We also had him signed up for one sport per season to keep him active in sports and trying new things. He didn't pay too much attention in sports till in them a couple of years. You can search online for quiet kid friendly games or things to do. Search pirate themes, and anything else he likes so he will be interested. But instead of allowing so much high energy, I would introduce more calm & quiet things so he can learn how to settle down and sit and do something without so much energy. My son's kindergarten teacher called him enthusiastic. That isn't a bad thing but if it becomes a point where you can't sit still and focus or you are disruptive to yourself or others......it can be. So instead of us saying hey, we are ok with you being wild and crazy all the time just run it off, we said, chill out-here let's try doing this instead. You can't always send them to someone elses house, and I wouldn't want someone else to have the same problem. When I was making/cooking dinner, was the problem time of the night for us. Him & his little brother would be terrors inside or out. I would have to constantly stop and check on them. It got old really quick. That is when I finally had it and settled them down. I started to expect them to behave and settle down and once I expected it, they started doing it. Cosmic Catch is a fun game to play outside too. Good Luck! I feel for you. I have 3 boys, ages 7, 3, and 1.

My son loves those bouncers and it wears him out. We always rent a huge one for his birthday. My sister in law bought a smaller one for her daughter. The kids love it and it gives them great excercise. You can get them online at Walmart and they have all different sizes for indoor or outdoor use. They cost around $40 to $$$.

A really fun game that we got out active 4 year old is Animal Scramble, and I think there is one similar called hyper dash. Basicly it is a handle that says clues and the child "races" to tag the animal that is described. It was around $20 at Target. even my 8 year old loves it.

K., My 5 yr old has some energy as well, but what we have run into is that he doesnt know how strong he is. He tries to wrestle and jump on dad and ends up getting yelled at. I am on the edge of signing him up for the local rec program Tai Quando program - of course I cant spell the darned thing just now. But the program will help my son learn some control as well. Learn how strong he really is, etc. I think it will also help with the wrestling with the two year old brother. :)
Good luck! My spirited two year old is wearing me out lately!!

I use to work at a inhome daycare and the kids got stir crazy or cabin fever sometimes. We had one boy in particular that was extrememly hyper active. We would have him run laps inside the fenced in back yard. Rain,snow or shine we'd send him for laps give him a umbrella you name it. It wasn't a punishment it was fun and the other kids were welcome to join him as well. He just had to get his wiggles out and burn that energy. It helped alot and was the only way to get him to nap if he didn't get a chance to play outside because of weather or what not.

hey K.,
i have 3 of my 4 babies all have ad hd, so i know how hard and crazy it is too keep kids busy, and doing stuff thats good for them all. first off make a game of everything you do each day and try to get them to help you with all that you do as a mom even cooking, they can still help you mixing stuff up when they are as tiny as 2 years old. you should also try to have them start doing silly excerises, you should try to get them to see how many of certain things they can do in one day. i had to help them at first, and show them how to do them and enchorage them alot too. i know it may seem tough at first but it helps them exercise while mom can count for them and encourage them. have them run around a tree at home and see how long it takes them and try to help them count. take them to the parks all that you can it will help alot and try to play with them if u can, to enchorage them to keep playing longer and longer.
i have had some really long car rides with my kids and i stop as much as i can so they can burn off energy between parts of the ride. i have had them play at rest stops and even some times when i have to have them run around the car a few times to make sure that they have gotten out steam any way that i can.
take them to lessens if you have the money for it.
swimming lessons and anything else they may be able to handle will work.
i also take them to inside places to play and walk like the mall alot.

i hope this helps
T.

My daycare used to always say, Eli was outside for four hours today; he should be TIRED tonight... He never was, but he was a lot more manageable. We try to use friends so that we are not totally exhausted, also. It sounds like some of the things you're doing are already what I'd do--I've found that more "adult" activities--skiing, snowshoeing, things like that--that are harder for little kids because they lack the coordination and understanding of an adult--are good wear-out activities. Other kids was also a good one for us, again because it wasn't US that was always trying to keep up with our kid.

My 5 year old boy is the same. TONS of energy. His favorite game (we "play" nearly daily and have for a couple years) is where he runs around the island in the kitchen until I say "freeze". Then he has to pretend he is an animal and I (or the 2 bigger brothers or younger sister) have to guess what he is. Sometimes he will just run and run and when I say freeze, he tells me he is not ready and keeps running. He is usually ready for something a little mellower after his "run". When the weather is nice, we do this outside and he picks something else to run around.

Another great thing we have is a toy from Creative Kidstuff called the "super skipper". It looks like to light sabers (can you tell I have boys?) attached at the handles that spin around for kids to continuously jump over. I think it was around $20-$30 and well worth every cent.

Good luck.

Hi K.-

I also have a five year old boy. Sometimes I take the kids to open gym at the YMCA and play basketball or just run around if it isn't crowded. Also, we love to go there during open swim. Swimming always wears my kids out, and it's nearly impossible to be too wild while trying to swim in deep water. Hope that helps.

I have a four-year-old boy and a two-year-old girl and we love to play "Simon Says" to get in a little exercise. They think it's a lot of fun and they especially love getting caught doing something Simon didn't say to do. We run in place, march, do jumping jacks, arm circles and whatever else I can think up. This helps us all use up some energy, especially on days we are stuck in the house.

While alot of the suggestion are great - I have a few that might not have been mentioned in scannign other responses.
Liking wrestling- I would suggest replacement activity with heavy lifting/moving work - bags of rice/sand/popcorn in a wagon,gallons of waterfilled and dumped, moving furniture, pushing another person safely on a scooter board, climbing up and over and under cushions like obstacle course. Muscles If you really want some professional guidance, ask Ped for consult with local pediatric occupational therapist, who is familiar with sensory processing.

My son loves to run so I put his little brother in the stroller and we go jogging - seriously, at least a mile. But we stay close to home in case he gets tired earlier than usual.