Embracing Movement: The Vital Role of Physical Activity for All Abilities
People with disabilities are less likely to participate in physical activity. Children with disabilities are reported to spend less time engaging in physical activity (Alghamdi & Alsaigh, 2023). According to The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) this is due to the barriers they may face when engaging and interacting in sports and other forms of physical activity (2023). There have been increases in programs to help try to minimize these barriers and support individuals with disabilities so they can receive the benefits. These positive impacts you may see include increased lung capacity and muscle strength, feelings of inclusion, mental health, well-being, sleep, and healthy body weight (AAP, 2023). This blog provides information and ideas for how to improve physical activity in your child as well as why it is important.
Barriers and Benefits of Physical Activity
There are increases in barriers to participating in physical activity for children with disabilities. This can lead to health challenges with obesity being 2 times more common in children with disabilities than in their typically developing peers (Alghamdi & Alsaigh, 2023). The sedentary lifestyle can be due to lack of access, inability to handle the sensory or environmental demands, increased screen time and many other reasons. Research has found strong evidence for health benefits from walking to horseback riding for children with disabilities (Johnson, 2009). By increasing the amount of physical activity a child participates in on a daily basis, you can see increased bone health and cognitive functioning and improvements in body composition and psychosocial health (Alghamdi & Alsaigh, 2023). We are here to provide some sensory-friendly activities for all ability levels that encourage physical activity for your child both inside and outside.
Indoor Ways to be Physically Active
Dance parties: Allows kids to be active and creative, learn rhythm, stimulate their auditory system, and support social interactions.
Yoga: Family or children’s yoga allows more controlled movement, builds core strength, channels and supports emotions and control over them, and increases flexibility.
Sports: Make sports indoor-friendly by blowing up a balloon or crumpling and taping paper to make a softer ball. Then, use cushions, a paper towel tube, or a spatula to hit and play baseball, kickball, or basketball (using baskets around the house). Be creative! Encourage your kids to help think of soft and appropriate items they could use. This builds cognitive functions such as reasoning, problem-solving, and planning.
Hide and Seek: builds reasoning, problem-solving, and creative skills and knowledge. It can also include running and moving around. This burns energy and can keep your children occupied for hours.
Interactive Videos: If you search Brain Breaks on YouTube, some videos allow your kid to feel they are in a video game and act out movements right from your living room. This Inside Out inspired brain break gives your child around 12 minutes of movement and can be used throughout the day to provide your child with the 60 minutes of needed movement throughout the day. Giving their brain time to get energy out, think differently, and move their bodies.
Here are some other indoor activities you can use to not only support your child’s physical activity but also cognitive and physical development!
Outdoor Ways to be Physically Active
Park: Going to parks allows socialization, active play and learning from other children, problem-solving, vestibular and proprioceptive input from swings, monkey bars, jungle gyms, and fresh air.
Walk: Going on walks is an easy way to bond as a family and have time together every day while also increasing your whole families cardiovascular health. Building these early habits can become a lifelong thing your child takes into adulthood. This is also something you can do with any ability level if you find accessible sidewalks and plan an appropriate path for you and your child’s ability levels.
Snow play: In the winter, your children can gain many sensory experiences from playing in the snow. Our blog Senses in Season: How to Engage All 8 Senses with Winter Activities talks about how children can gain sensory input in various ways during winter. This includes sledding, ice skating, playing hockey, making snow angels, building forts, having snowball fights and more.
Chalk: Encourages creativity, requires bending or moving in different positions, can involve creating games like hopscotch where you can hop, skip, jump, or lung. It can be a tool to guide your child to incorporate movement into their creative play.
Swimming: It is a great way to get your child exercise, it is low impact and good for joints. There are adaptive swim classes and often community centers where you can take your child to swim. This is an excellent activity for children of all abilities. It can also be very stimulating to various senses, with the intense smells, feeling of water, and vestibular input you can receive from spinning or moving in the water.
References
Alghamdi, S., & Alsaigh, R. (2023). Determinants of Physical Activity among Children with Disabilities. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 11(4), 494. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11040494
American Academy of Pediatrics. (2023, July 24). Physical activity for children and teens with disabilities: AAP policy explained. HealthyChildren.org https://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/fitness/Pages/Physical-Activity-for-Children-with-Disabilities-AAP-Policy-Explained.aspx
Johnson C. C. (2009). The benefits of physical activity for youth with developmental disabilities: a systematic review. American journal of health promotion : AJHP, 23(3), 157–167. https://doi-org.pearl.stkate.edu/10.4278/ajhp.070930103
Sunrise Medical. (2019, November 16). The importance of physical activity for children with disabilities. https://www.sunrisemedical.co.uk/blog/the-importance-of-physical-activity-for-children-with-disabilities