Therapeutic Recreational Activities for Children with Disabilities

1. Therapeutic Recreational Activities for Children with Disabilities By Rachel Brown

2. Intended for the Recreational Therapist or an individual looking for activities to do with disabled children!

3. Therapeutic Recreation: What is it? • Services and recreational activities for individuals with disabilities or illnesses • Techniques improve everyday skills with leisure activities http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos082.htm

4. Therapeutic Recreation in Different Settings Healthcare: • Hospitals • Rehabilitation Centers • Long-term Residential Facilities Community: • Park and Recreation Departments • Special Education Programs for School Districts

5. What Therapeutic Recreation helps overall • Reduce stress, anxiety, and depression • Build confidence • Recover basic motor functioning and reasoning abilities

6. What Therapeutic Recreation Helps Overall (cont.) • Socialize effectively • Improve and maintain physical, mental, emotional well-being • Eliminate effects of disability or illness

7. Techniques • Sports • Arts and Crafts • Dance and Movement • Music/Body Awareness

8. Techniques (cont.) • Games • Relaxation • Animals *These techniques & others can be found at: http://www.recreationtherapy.com/tractv.htm

9. Sports • Help regain mobility • Hand-eye coordination • Promotes physical well-being

10. Activity: Throwing a ball • Teach left-handed people with left-side paralysis how to use unaffected right side to throw a ball

11. Arts and Crafts • Way to relax, feel sense of accomplishment – self esteem booster • Maintain an alert mind – hand eye coordination, following directions

12. Activity: Wheelchair Painting • Spread large sheet of paper on floor • Pour paint on the sheet • Let wheelchair patients run their wheelchairs all over the paint • Sign and date!

13. Dance and Movement • Increase socialization skills & physical movement • Provide opportunity for independence during the activity • Express feelings

14. Activity: Expressional Movement • Leader says topic – descriptive words, animals, sport, etc. • Leader can say to move to the floor, shake, move slow or fast • Child has to imagine and move to what they think goes with it

15. Music/Body Awareness • Can incorporate playing music while learning to be aware of body • Helps because sometimes disabled children cannot distinguish different body parts

16. Activity: Musical Play • Have child play an instrument – in front of their bodies, down by their feet, over shoulders, etc.

17. Games • Learn to play games with others – if isolated or have limited social skills • Initiate and enhance communication • Have to make decisions

18. Activity: Bingo • Have printed Bingo cards and distribute • Call out letters/numbers • Let children mark their card until someone wins!

19. Relaxation • Reduce stress and tension • Stretching exercises • Proper body mechanics • Pacing and energy conservation techniques

20. Activity: Stimulating Relaxation • Lower lights in room/close eyes • Can turn on a lava lamp • Play calm music • With lights on, can read a book

21. Animals • Act as companion/able to connect • Can teach responsibility • Generates good feelings

22. Activity: Interaction • Setting up allotted time to play and pet animals such as cats, horses, dogs, etc. • Could go to a park to play with a dog

23. In Conclusion … • Therapeutic Recreation is very important for incorporating leisure activities into a disabled child’s life • Wide variety of different techniques to be used – always new ones • Fun and memorable way to interact with disabled children The End!