At Blue Bird Day, we understand the importance of physical activity in the growth and development of young children. Exercise releases endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine and is associated with a wide range of physical and mental health benefits including positive mood, decreased stress, and improved focus. Exercise, movement, and play are essential for all children, and especially helpful for children that struggle with sensory and emotional regulation. We take pride in offering our kids an environment enriched with opportunities for physical activity that not only builds their physical strength but also nurtures their cognitive and emotional abilities.
The importance of physical activity and children’s executive function is extensively backed by research, a recent meta-analysis, comprising 24 experimental studies with over 1400 participants, indeed emphasizes the significant role physical activity plays in enhancing executive functions in children. Executive functions are a set of cognitive processes crucial for emotional regulation, planning, problem-solving, and focused attention, forming the foundation for higher cognitive development in adulthood.
The study further underlines that the positive impact of physical activity on a child’s executive functions is contingent upon the duration of the intervention, with interventions lasting over twelve weeks having the most substantial effect. 6-12-week interventions were also positive, while those lasting less than six weeks had less significant effects.
The study highlights the need for ongoing commitment to physical activity, which resonates with our evidence-based approach to ensure physical activity is incorporated throughout our client’s daily schedules. At Blue Bird Day, our client’s engage in physical therapy and OT movement in our sensory gyms every day. In these rotations, gross motor skills are addressed using both structured and unstructured activities and are tailored to the abilities of each child. We ensure that physical activity, a crucial component of healthy growth, is not a sporadic event but a consistent feature of our everyday routine.
Blue Bird Day fosters socialization, sensory regulation, and pre-academic learning in children ages 2-7 years in therapeutic rotations that simulate preschool and kindergarten settings. Our compassionate therapists practice a relationship-based and family-centered approach, provide parent training, and collaborate on goals and individualized intensive treatment plans for your child.
We believe in a collaborative and multi-disciplinary team approach to therapy. A team of occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, dietitians, developmental therapists, behavioral therapists, physical therapists, and therapeutic assistants are created for each child to ensure child and family are fully supported and the best possible results are achieved.
Options for individualized, group and virtual therapy sessions are available as well.
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