Extracurricular activities are a great way to work on strengthening, balance, and coordination in a peer or individual setting! Joining these activities also help improve your child’s confidence and build connections with peers. Below are just a few examples of extracurricular activities and some specific benefits to your child as detailed by a pediatric Physical Therapist.
Recreational Sports
Increasing cardiovascular endurance, reciprocal peer play, turn taking, object manipulation skills including overhand throwing, underhand throwing, catching, and kicking, dynamic balance while moving in a busy environment, generalization of skills across different environments.
Swimming
Cardiovascular endurance, motor coordination, diaphragmatic breathing, increasing lung capacity, gross strengthening.
Soccer
Cardiovascular endurance, kicking, dynamic single leg stance, catching (as goalie), overhand throwing with both arms, lower extremity strengthening, core strengthening, motor planning, motor coordination.
Dance
Cardiovascular endurance, single leg stance, dynamic balance, gross strengthening, motor coordination, motor planning.
Yoga
Gross strengthening, tolerance of static positions, motor planning, motor coordination, dynamic balance, body awareness in space, controlled diaphragmatic breathing pattern.
Gymnastics
Cardiovascular endurance, single leg stance, dynamic balance, gross strengthening, motor coordination, motor planning, muscular control of movements.
Karate
Cardiovascular endurance, single leg stance, dynamic balance, gross strengthening, motor coordination, motor planning, grading of movements.
Cooking classes
Motor planning, motor coordination, grading of movements, attending to tasks, increase static standing time, following verbal and visual directions, core and upper extremity strengthening.
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.
Want to learn more or you have a specific question? Feel free to connect with us here!
