Anything.
The activity was always welcomed in our family, more so since he was diagnosed with diabetes at age of 3. We soon noticed that the activity improves absorption and effectiveness of insulin.
At the age of 6, Mr T got the pump. It meant that now there was something attached to him at all times. There was an infusion set on his tummy or upper back side, the line connecting it to the pump, and the pump in his secret pocket. Now, we had to address two issues: keep the pump safe during the activities and assure the infusion set does not get ripped out if something catches onto the cord.
various ways of wearing the pump:
in the pockets, on a special belt clip,
special casings and holders clipping
on to the garments.
Nothing was quite perfect.
We soon settled on a secret pocket,
or shall I say secret sock, as I wrote
in my post “A sock – irreplaceable
pump accessory”. All home made.
With the pump snugly tucked away in his shorts / pajama/ or even swimmers, Mr T again became unstoppable and without the worry that the pump will fall out, get scratched, or the line would be pulled.
The secret sock sown on the inside of a shorts assures that the pump stayed close to his body and did not bounce about even at the fastest speeds or roughest of boys plays.
So our answer to the question "Pens or pump - which is better for a very active child" is as follows: The advantage of the pump is in its flexibility to adjust and fine tune the insulin dosing, which is very hard to achieve on pens. Pens on the other hand can give a person a care free freedom of movement during the activities. Yet again, you can always take the pump off for a while.
Either way, activity is good for everybody, so pens or pump - neither should prevent you from participating in an activity. We believe in using what you got at your disposal and learning how to use it to its full potential to suit you and your needs. So you go for it and make what you got work for you.