It’s important to know when a child is diagnosed with cerebral palsy their condition will NOT worsen overtime but can drastically improve through various methods such as therapy and FUN activities.
The GREAT news is that with continuous activities that encourage movement, a child’s muscles can be trained to improve their coordination and motor skills while allowing them the opportunity to hit developmental milestones.
But what things should you focus on?
Most importantly, what ENJOYABLE activities can you expose your child to while encouraging their motor skills?
We will explore 7 FUN ways to enhance a child’s skills diagnosed with cerebral palsy.
Let’s dive in. 🙂
#1. Music
Music activities are a WONDERFUL form of therapy to help a child with CP be able to use their body movements while learning.
A few of the added benefits include clapping, dancing, and listening to song lyrics which can allow a child to learn new words.
Instrumental music playing is an excellent sensory activity that helps strengthen upper body functions while connecting fine motor and cognitive skills.
It doesn’t stop there, the beat of the music can help reduce muscle tension to allow concentration and focus!
Great instruments for a child with CP to play could be the drums, tambourine, maraca, and piano. The pure enjoyment of music creates an environment of optimism which has many perks both emotionally and physically.
#2. Hands-On Activities
The following list explains four engaging and cost effective hands-on activities your child can enjoy such as crafts or reading and a GREAT way to improve their fine motor skills.
Torn Paper Texture Art
Items needed; color construction paper and glue stick.
Allow your child to get messy during this playful activity by tearing the construction paper into all shapes and sizes.
Take the glue stick and glue the torn pieces onto a separate sheet of paper.
Egg Carton Painting and Banana Stamping
Items needed; egg carton, paint, and one banana.
Holding a paintbrush can be difficult for a child with motor disabilities but a banana will allow them to grasp around it easily.
Cut the banana in half and take the exposed end to dip into the non-toxic paint.
If the banana becomes too sloppy while dipping, you can take a small piece of saran wrap to wrap around the exposed banana end.
Colorful Large Chalk
Items needed; large chalk.
Enjoy this activity on a beautiful day outside on the pavement or indoors on a chalkboard surface.
The colorful pieces of chalk will allow a child to learn colors including as improve their handle muscle movement while grasping the chalk.
#3. Reading
Books are an inspiring educational activity to do together!
Reading to your child or getting them involved by flipping the pages is a helpful way to improve their speech and understand words.
You can also have your child name objects or characters they see in the book by pointing.
When you child points their fingers and uses their gestures, it will pave the way for their language development later on.
When a child says their very first word, it is usually a word they have pointed to!
#4. Games
Switching up a child’s routine to learn movement and coordination can be exciting!
Games are an AMAZING activity option to promote mobility through play.
Play-doh
A fun sensory activity a child can do to develop strength and control in their hands.
Encourage your child to break apart pieces of play-doh and create different figures such as rolling a ball or flatten into a pancake.
Sorting
Choose colorful objects such as M&M’s or paper clips and sort them into baskets or small bowls by color, shape, or size.
Stickers
A sticker book can be a creative outlet for a child to have fun while developing their finger muscles by pinching and pulling.
Stickers are also a great tool used to motivate movement!
For example, place a sticker on the top of a child’s shoe to spark their interest to bend over. Stickers can be placed on many objects to entice a variety of movements.
#5. Swimming
Water activities, such as swimming, are a BLAST to do anytime of the year indoors or outside.
Swimming can help promote physical function and concentration.
The buoyancy of water allows a child to move around more freely without placing stress on their muscles. It’s also a soothing form of therapy that allows a child to be playful while gaining confidence and independence in the water.
Overall, swimming is a safe and effective way for a child to strengthen motor functions while having fun at the same time.
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#6. Technology
In our innovative world that is quickly changing, there are many activities with technology, such as enabling devices, a child can use to enhance their cognitive skills to help their brain to think, read, learn, reason, and remember.
Hearing
A child with cerebral palsy may have loss of hearing but an assistive device can help them communicate their feelings, thoughts, increase their vocabulary, and gain confidence.
The device can continue being measured to fit and grow with the child into adulthood.
Eye Tracking
This type of device can open new worlds for a child by letting users communicate with those around them through a controlled voice-generated software.
It provides more independence and lets users have fun with computer games, advance their education, and express their creativity through other computer software such as music.
Communication Board
A leading technological gadget used by many children to encourage communication and language development. It provides guided interaction between the child and caretaker.
A child who has speech motor delays can become frustrated not being able to communicate their feelings and needs.
The wonderful aspect of a communication device is to allow a child to express themselves more freely without limitations.
#7. Cooking
Whipping up delicious treats in the kitchen with your child can be a rewarding task to look forward to doing together daily.
Don’t be tempted to hold your child back, let them get involved with you as much as possible. 🙂
A GREAT way to begin your cooking session is to gather kitchen utensils that your child can use as their own (could be old or extra utensils you have lying around).
Allow them to get messy and utilize their tools as a creative outlet to engage in making the food with you.
This activity can stimulate executive function teaching your child to develop their mental skills.
Final Thoughts
I hope this post added value to your research efforts in finding FUN activities for cerebral palsy.
If there are other activities you would recommend, questions you may have, or anything you’d like to add that I did not cover in this post, please feel free to comment below.
If you found this information helpful, please share by clicking the sidebar link to help another child. 🙂
I really do strive to make the content I create as helpful as possible for you.
Thanks for stopping by today!
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Brandon
These are some great activities that I have never thought of before. My nephew has CP and he is a bit of a handful for my sister. So whenever I visit them I like to play games and have fun but I never thought about listening to music or reading. This is awesome! I’m going to buy some books online and hopefully they’re here before I visit them again. Thanks a lot!
Lindsey Kovach
Wonderful Brandon! Thanks for sharing. I’m glad this post could help you with some different activities to play with your nephew. My nephew has CP as well and one of his favorite activities is music; listening to music, dancing to music, or playing with music makes him the happiest kid in the world (even though he is already a happy little guy). 🙂 I hope you enjoy the activities with your nephew!
Rob Fraser
Thank you for sharing! I know this can be an emotional thing to handle and having these tools can make it that much easier! I also think it’s amazing that music can have such a calming, relaxing, or uplifting effect! While I don’t know anyone with kiddos personally who has CP, I can say that these ideas are helpful to anyone who has their hands full with ‘what do I do with my kid today!’ Especially now with what’s going on!
Lindsey Kovach
Hey Rob! Thanks so much for your feedback and sharing. We hope other families can find the information helpful even if their child doesn’t have cerebral palsy.
edahnewton1
Hey nice article you have there. Thanks for putting such a concise article to help children with cerebral palsy not to be left out in fun activities. My neighbors will definitely find this fun listed here valuable to their children, I will definitely make some recommendations to them and refer them to this article for further clarity. Regards.
Lindsey Kovach
Wonderful, thank you. We are very glad to hear this article can be passed along to help a family. We appreciate you sharing.
Umut
Hello, there!
I have many nephews and nieces and your post was very useful to learn how to engage them especially now when everyone at home. Currently, everyone is leaving their kids to me and I had to collect some knowledge about how to not make them exclaim; that I am very boring. But, after reading your post I have pretty, useful hacks.
Lindsey Kovach
Wonderful! Glad you found the information helpful and can use some of the activities suggested with your nieces and nephews. 🙂
João Queiroz
Living with cerebral palsy poses difficult physical challenges. One of these challenges is severe spasticity, which can hinder daily activities. Fortunately, there are therapies that can minimize severe spasticity in some individuals. That s why I say that Children and Cerebral Palsy are two things that should never have been put together. The good thing is that there is hope!
Lindsey Kovach
Thanks for sharing! We appreciate your feedback.
Cynthia
These are great tips. It’s amazing how much technology have evolved and all the ways it can aid in learning and communication. There’s also no substitute for good old fashioned, hands on therapy. My nephew has Cerebral Palsy. He struggled throughout his childhood to learn the most rudimentary and endured a number of surgeries. His parents never wavered in their dedication to make sure he was all that he could be. While he still has health concerns, today, in his 30s, he lives independently in Vietnam, teaching English and is engaged to a lovely girl. Don’t ever give up hope!
Lindsey Kovach
Hi Cynthia, thanks so much for sharing! I’m so glad to hear your newphew is doing well.
Skuchmane
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Lindsey Kovach
Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback with us!
Philebur
This is wonderful. I once saw in a novel I read where craft in this case colour drawing was used as a connective tool to a child with cerebral palsy. I think advancement in technology has done a lot to improve the way we go about treating children with cerebral palsy as we can now track brain impulses easily, this is essential in helping us notice improvement more easily and faster.
Lindsey Kovach
Absolutely. My nephew who has cerebral palsy loves to color, it’s one of his favorite activities. Thanks for your feedback and sharing!