Exercise has developmental benefits for children and young people. As well as supporting physical development (strength, stability, mobility), movement can boost cognitive skills like planning, problem solving and bilateral integration – using the two sides of the body and brain together.
It’s important to remember any movement counts as physical activity: it doesn’t need to look like traditional exercise or sport. Anything that gets our child moving a little bit more than normal will help them get fitter and stronger.
Ball Games
Roll a ball or object between you on their tray or at a table.
Start with a big ball and get smaller as your child improves.
Try to stop the ball when it comes to you before rolling back.
Try rolling with more accuracy-e.g. into a container.
Try stopping the ball with 2 Hands
Try stopping the ball with 1 hand.
Throw and Catch Games
Start with a big soft ball and standing/ sitting very close together. Roll the ball into your child’s hands so they get used to holding it and balancing the ball between 2 hands.
Ask your child to throw it back and keep practising until they are accurate to you at a very small distance.
Start moving back a little so there is a gap between you.
Start making the ball a bit smaller-soft balls and beanbags are easier to catch than fully inflated balls. If you don’t have balls at home use rolled up socks, small cushions or soft toys.
Move onto large inflated balls such as footballs and then move on to smaller or harder balls.
Progress from 2 handed catches onto 1 handed catches.
Try also catching on their own-throwing into the air or against a wall.
Try moving further apart from each other one step at a time to increase the challenge. If you are feeling brave, try this outside with water balloons.
Bucket Game
Set up the room so that there is a beanbag or soft toy on furniture at a height that is in easy reach of your child. Space the furniture out and put a laundry basket at the end.
If your child can wheel themselves or if they use an electric wheelchair then encourage them to do this activity themselves. If not you can push them.
They need to go to the first beanbag and pick it up and put on their tray. They then go to the laundry basket and try and throw it in. Next go to the 2nd beanbag and take it to the laundry basket.
Continue until they have put all the beanbags into the basket. This is a lovely game to play with siblings as they can do a relay race playing the same game.
All of the above games and more can be found HERE