Purposeful Play- physical therapy tips from a professional

Purposeful Play- Physical Therapy Tips from a Professional

I remember after receiving my son, Kaleb’s diagnosis, I had several people tell me how he was born into the perfect family. How my background was sure to help him. Sure, I might have experience and degrees in physical education and exercise science, but I was quick to learn that didn’t mean he was destined to quickly learn PT skills. In fact, it continues to be his weakest area. So while I knew the milestone timelines, both for typically developing and those for Down syndrome, and knew activities and exercises to focus on to work on specific skills it didn’t do much good. So while I have experience as a teacher, and an educational background in exercise and sports science it didn’t guarantee me success working with Kaleb.  But, there are some purposeful play physical therapy tips from a professional I can share now that I know better.

In fact, in the beginning, I worked to make him follow a set of activities and stretched every day. I was working to make his home therapy into a very structured and productive time. Most of the time to no avail. We ended the time quite often with both of us frustrated and sometimes even in tears. Even though as a professor I am spending my time telling my students to look for ways to capture their interest and reach the child, I wasn’t heeding my own advice. I needed to step back and focus more on purposeful play.

This allowed me to focus on my kid. To focus on his likes and his dislikes, strengths and weaknesses, as well as make it work for our family and family schedule. As a parent, you play with your child and care for your child. Because of this, you have the time and ability to work on therapy at home. Whether it’s caring for their physical, mental, emotional, or social needs, you are spending hands on time with them which is all you need in order to work on physical or occupational therapy.

Purposeful play may sound fancy but as I tell my students, often things are simply concepts we know but overthink them. That once you understand what it means you will more than likely think of several you are already doing or simple ways you can add into your daily lives. Here are five ways to incorporate PT work into your day.

Rethink Your Daily Routine

If your child is a non-walker you can be purposeful in how you carry him. Are you always carrying him the same way? For me, I tend to carry him on one hip, and typically even the same hip. However, if I turn him and bring leg bent at the knee up towards his chest, he can better see his surroundings and take in the world. This also makes him work to support his own weight and strengthens his core. When sitting in the floor cuddling: it is an opportunity to work on sitting posture, feet placement, or when ready to work on standing-give cuddles while also getting him into proper position to stand. Kaleb struggled with weight bearing on feet. For Kaleb, the main time he’d tolerate standing was during our cuddle times where I would sneak it in.

Use Favorite Toys and Activities

Find what they like to do and also incorporate skills you want them to work on. For example, my typical developing five year old loves baseball. So over the past couple of years to teach various concepts I find a way to relate it to baseball and he has a better desire to learn the skills I’m attempting to teach him. For Kaleb, he loves putting objects in containers. So when he was younger and I needed him to work on turning and rotating his weight from one side or another I would work on placing his rainbow bears, shapes, or play coins on that side. If I needed to work on him sitting tall and reaching I would grab the couch cushions or a stool and put them on there.

Use Your Imagination to Think Outside the Box

Just as we want our kids to use their imagination we need to remember to do the same. To do therapy work at home, you don’t have to go broke. It is easy to get caught up in buying equipment and specialized toys. I’m preaching to the choir here. I have made several purchases for therapy equipment, only for Kaleb to show very little interest in them, or for them not to work the way I need them to. Sometimes we need to remember often kids favorite toys can be boxes or pots and spoons. It doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive to be effective. One of my favorite student activities is for them to go to Dollar Tree and see what all they can find to use for therapy or the physical education class. Examples include but not limited to; pool noodles, foam dice, cones, flashcards, buckets, etc. Pool noodles can become swords, part of an obstacle course, or even cut up to become coins/tokens. Buckets can become building blocks, color sorts, targets, or so many different possibilities.

Incorporate it Throughout Your Day

I use to think I needed to set aside a designated time and with busy schedules it’s easy to feel you don’t have time for it. This can often leave you feeling frustrated with yourself that you aren’t doing enough for them. When in truth you can do this all day long. Meals can work on OT skills with pincer grasp and communication skills while they eat. Be sure to talk or sign while you eat. Bath time for Kaleb is when we have found we are able to do the most work. The water helps move easier so that muscle isn’t as much of an issue. He does a lot of kicking. He learned to sit better while in the tub, turn around, and scoot. You can use cups in the bath for him to learn to scoop or even pour from one cup to another. If you are wanting to work on more basic skills get a couple of items such as foam letters or rubber docks and try to get him to put into a container or cup. This works on his grasp and release.

Celebrate Inchstones

We may wait longer for milestones more than the typical developing child, but we can and will celebrate our hearts out when it does happen. In the meantime don’t be afraid to celebrate inchstones. Celebrate the little developing skills needed in order to perform a big skill. These skills don’t just happen. Other smaller, sometimes invisible skills and brain connections are having to happen in order for the bigger skill to develop. These inches are progress and we should celebrate that. This also encourages and motivates our child with praise. Just like any child they seek your praise and approval. Nothing makes my heart smile than when I get to watch Kaleb’s face after he does something. He is already proud of himself and then when he gets Momma’s praise, his whole face lights up.

Always Remember You Are Enough

You have a beautiful child who, just like any other child is growing and learning about the world around them. Take time to stop and smell the roses. Plus you can always turn into standing or walking skill work while doing it. 🙂

Amanda  is a professor of Exercise Science and Sports Leadership. Before going into higher education she taught health and physical education in Missouri and Oklahoma. Amanda is the wife to TJ and mother to two little boys, Kaden and Kaleb. Kaden is a sports crazy, baseball-obsessed, kind-hearted, and independent five year old. Kaleb, came into this world showing he was going to do his own thing by coming at only 28 weeks resulting in an extended NICU stay. Along with being a preemie Kaleb has Down syndrome and cerebral palsy. Kaden teaches the Dickinsons many life lessons as he continues to grow and enter new stages in life. Not to be outdone Kaleb is determined to show life from a different perspective.