The Power of Recreation & Play
Recreation Therapy and Play is key in our Rehabilitation Program here at Totally Kids. Incorporating recreation and play enables our kids to continue their development as children, adjust to their hospitalization more easily, and to progress on their treatment goals so that they may return home as quickly as possible.
In our home like environment, our Recreation Therapist, Mary Kay Chesher and Recreation Therapy Assistant, Raisa Pinkney create activities that improve the physical, cognitive, and the social and emotional abilities of our kids. They incorporate many recreation therapy modalities and interventions to move our kids progressively forward in accomplishing their therapeutic goals.
Our kids participate in a structured program of recreation therapy groups & therapeutic activities, including: Creative and Exploratory Sensory Play (i.e. Water Tray Play & Sand Tray), Creative Expressions Group (Art), Music, Movement, Horticultural Activities, Relaxation Training, Social Skills Development, Leisure Skills, Gross Motor Enhancement, Sensory Integration, Pet Therapy and Community Resource Outings when appropriate.
As the kids play, our therapists are able to recognize their functional abilities and capacity to act independently. They then guide our kids through the performance of play activities that may broaden those abilities, and in some cases, reduce the effects of illness or the disabilities affecting them.
For example, Juan, who is 9 years old, is receiving therapy in our acute hospital to recover from the effects of an aneurysm, which has left him with weakness in his arms and a loss of coordination using his hands. Among the activities that are part of his recreation and play therapy is handling Hot Wheel toy cars on a looping track.
The process of repeatedly grabbing the toy cars and placing them at the top of the track so they could slide down, is a fine-motor activity that allows him to increase his grasp and increase his coordination, strength, and endurance. As far as he is concerned, Juan is simply playing with Hot Wheels. For Mary Kay and Raisa, our recreation therapist, the activity brings Juan closer to meeting his therapy goals.
Other benefits of play in children include:
- Reduce stress and anxiety
- Increase mobility and range of motion
- Increase coping strategies and skills
- Increase cognition
- Increase problem solving skills
- Increase attention span, impulse control and frustration tolerance
- Increase confidence & self esteem
- Develop Social Skills
- Increase Verbalizations
- Express Emotions Through Creativity
- Develop New Leisure Skills
- Improve Quality of Life
All activities are designed to be age appropriate, and take place in our community settings, such as the Activities Room and Garden Areas of the Hospital. Play activities are great at allowing kids and their families to connect, and as such, are always encouraged and welcomed.
Our belief in Recreation Therapy and Play is one we take tremendous pride in and find crucial to a child’s overall recovery!
