Playing and spending time with your child is beneficial to both you and your child no matter what the circumstance. However, when it comes to children with cerebral palsy, spending time with them and paying special attention to them has been proven to improve their health and growth. There are some recommended activities which you can do with your children which will not only serve as recreational time but will also help develop their motor skills. Physical exercise of any sort will be beneficial to children but when it comes to children with cerebral palsy, running and walking are invaluable activities which will help them develop those basic abilities which they take some time getting the hang of. Children with cerebral palsy have the ability to walk but however due to their condition, it takes some time for them develop them. Starting with baby steps is always the right place to start. Some doctors or physical therapists recommend the use of a Rifton Pacer or a walker in the initial stages so that they can get used to the motions. You can lay games such as hide and seek or tag as a way of making the activity more fun and less of a chore.
If the rifton pacer walker related activities are not your child’s favourite thing to do, another activity that will help them is swimming. Though you might think it is a safety hazard, in reality they might prefer swimming to land activities as it is less painful for them. When on land, they have to support their own weight as well as endure the pain of everyday movements that are second nature to us. For children with cerebral palsy, sometimes little movements such as keeping their head up straight or standing for an extended period of time will be painful. But when in the water, they are able to do so with less pain because of weight under water is less, this means that they will be supporting less body weight while doing their exercises. So this allows them to exercise and train their muscles under less of a strain and the gradually will become used to the movements. This will also help reduce pain and tension in muscles and joints.
Another activity which is useful for children with cerebral palsy is working on their hand and wrist movement. The exercises given by the doctors will help with your child’s movements but children will be children and they will respond better when they are enjoying the activity. In addition to the doctor recommended activities, you might try to involve your child in arts and crafts. However, make sure to ask your doctor before trying anything. Activities such as playing with clay or play dough will help your child’s wrist movement. All these little things will help your child but always make sure to ask your doctor if the activity is too much for them beforehand.
