Activity suggestions for 5 year olds

Hi all,
I'm an Aussie mum who has finally resigned myself to the fact that my sons ITP, diagnosed 2 years ago, is most likely not going to resolve itself, so am now on the hunt for those in similar situations, to try and brainstorm together how to go about living with an active 5 yr old boy... I feel a little like I am trying to reinvent the wheel as I'm sure that others have been here, so am hoping some of you may have some suggestions of how you dealt with the day-to-day issues...
This year, Zach goes into Year 1, and therefore a larger, less supervised playground, and I'm unsure of how much restriction I should be placing on him... Or how much I should be expecting from the school...
His count is quite varied, ranging from 6,000 up to about 35,000 but usually on the lower side...
He bruises like there's no tomorrow, but luckily we haven't had any bleeding issues so far...

Any comments would be greatly appreciated!
Jo

Hi Jo, I have a 5 year old daughter who has had ITP for a long time now. One time her count was 34, otherwise it has always been less than 25. Most the time you can barely find a part of her not covered in bruises or petechiae, but we've only had a handful of times when we have found it hard to stop bleeding.

Like you, I have never quite been sure what restrictions we should be placing on her or what we should expect from the school. I think we are probably too laid back about it, but we let our daughter do most things. Cycling, scooters and similar she must have a helmet. Trampolines and bouncy castles she can't go on with someone else. Ice skating and horse riding we don't allow ( I really want to take my girls ice skating). I'm guessing we wouldn't let her do football and rugby although it's not something she does at school so never been an issue.

She is a very active girl and always running everywhere.I am often telling her to be careful as things she is doing is going to end in an accident. I would like to think that school keep more of an eye on her on the playground than other children, but I'm not sure that is the case.

Thanks so much for your reply- that's pretty much exactly our approach so far, so it's comforting to hear that you've taken the same route. I find it a precarious line to walk, between allowing him to live as normally as possible, experiencing childhood with all its ups and downs, whilst trying to minimalist the risks. What a crazy condition!!!

I hear you about the ice skating- over here Aussie Rules football is mandatory for most hot blooded Aussie boys, so it's a little heartbreaking to have to steer him clear, but it's definitely opening us up to all sorts of other options, that's for sure!! He's become mad keen on soccer, which at this age I think is okay- we'll just have to watch how it develops!

I really appreciate you taking the time to write.
Thanks again!
Jo