Group activities such as Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts or 4H Clubs offer structure, fund, interactive play and community involvement. These clubs help to develop social skills, increase self-esteem as well as offering creative outlets.
More and more schools are creating community involvement clubs in which children go out into the community for a variety of reasons. One week they may help clean up a park, one week they may put on a show at a retirement community, the next week they may help out in a soup kitchen. These clubs offer children variety in a structured environment, increase self-esteem and increase awareness of others less fortunate and develop a sense of community pride and giving back.
No matter what activity you may choose with your child, monitor their progress. If you find an activity is not working or is becoming more detrimental than beneficial, try something different. Continue to work with your child to find their interests and develop pride in what they do. Success in anything will help your child to feel better about themselves.
You may want to discuss your child’s ADHD with the coach or leader of whatever activity you choose. Help the leader or coach learn how to work with children with ADHD to create the best environment possible. Let them know where your child may need additional assistance and what areas your child may excel and help out the most. Keeping in touch with the leader or coach is just as important as keeping in touch with your child’s teachers. Problems may be able to be eliminated with simple suggestions.
As much as the above activities can be great for children with ADHD, there are also some activities, which can cause problems. Excessive television or video games can be harmful. The ADHD brain cannot always separate messages or distinguish good and bad messages. They do not as easily “throw away” those messages they do not need. Instead they will take in commercials or violence as easily as they do the good in television shows. Additionally, children with ADHD can have trouble setting boundaries for themselves and an hour of television or video games can easily turn into three hours. These activities do not require social skills or interaction with other children and can create even more isolation in a child that may already feel he does not fit in.
