Here at EA, we understand that childhood development is complex, and sometimes help is needed to reach the many milestones, overcome the obstacles, and build skills for future independence. This is why we are using this National Physical Therapy Month to bring awareness to a topic we are passionate about: children’s recreation therapy.
What is Recreation Therapy?
If you are not familiar with this particular form of therapy, recreation therapy (also known as therapeutic recreation) uses intentional activities and exercises to focus on social, emotional, cognitive, physical, and even spiritual health. This means that it can include a variety of physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and adaptive sports and fitness. Overall, these activities and exercises are often leisure experiences that the person enjoys doing, which makes therapy a fun experience for everyone involved.
While therapeutic recreation can be used to treat people of all ages who, due to illness, disability, or other circumstances, need individualized help to achieve their goals, it is especially helpful for children with specialized needs including physical, emotional, communication, behavioral, and neurodiversity of any kind.
Benefits of Pediatric Recreation Therapy
Incorporating therapeutic recreation into your child’s wellness plan can be incredibly beneficial to many dimensions of their overall well-being. Some of these recreation therapy benefits include:
- Physical Exercise: This form of therapy for children encourages physical activity and incorporates daily exercises to boost your child’s physical health through activities that that they can enjoy.
- Improved Function: When creating every customized health plan, our certified recreation specialists look at the goals, interests, and ability of each child in order to find exercises and activities that help to improve their motor function, strength, and mobility.
- Strengthen Social Skills: Participating in recreation therapy classes and camps also opens the door for your child to make new friends and develop their social skills. Through this interaction with their peers, they also gain a better understanding of appropriate behavior and adapt similar habits.
- Mental & Emotional Well-Being: Therapeutic recreation will have positive benefits on the mental and emotional development and well-being. Children who successfully participate in these activities can overcome anxiety, as well as boost self-confidence, self-worth, and self-competence.
- Engagement & Enjoyment: Ultimately, these activities and exercises are meant to be fun ways to help the overall health of your child. By making them enjoyable and tailored to your child’s interests, they will be more engaged in them and more internally motivated to be active on their own time as well.
Combining Therapeutic Recreation and Physical Therapy for Children
Since our children’s recreation therapy services are therapeutically informed programs, it only makes since that a combination of both are needed in order for them to be successful. Often times, physical therapy is the starting point in a child’s health and wellness journey. Along the way, it is combined with therapeutic recreation to ensure they are getting the help they need to improve their overall health, not just their original ailment.
At EA, we believe that everyone should have access to the services they need, which is why we provide a variety of children’s camps and classes for various ages, abilities, and skill levels in 1:1, small group, and even large group models. To further ensure that our services are available for all, we have a fully accessible facility, offer translation services, and have a variety of financial pathways for our clients.
Childhood development may be complex, but it does not have to be difficult. With our children’s recreation therapy services, we are here to help your child overcome the obstacles that prevent them from reaching their health goals and develop skills for their future independence. Contact us to schedule a free therapeutic recreation consultation and start the next step of your child’s wellness journey today!