13 Activities for Children in Power Wheelchairs
Bringing Fun and Imagination to Kids with Limited Mobility
Apr 23, 2009
Being given the freedom to explore & play with fun motivating activities enables a child with limited mobility.
Children may need the help of a wheelchair for many reasons. Among them are injuries to the legs, injuries to the spine, muscular dystrophy and cerebral palsy. Children can start using them when they're as young as one year old.
Whatever age they start, children in wheelchairs face more obstacles than those who don't depend on one to get around. However, with training and experience, kids who use wheelchairs can go to school, shop, and play with their peers.
Fun and Motivating Activities to Help a Child’s Transition into a Wheelchair
There are many fun and exciting power mobility training ideas for children. Here are some simple ideas to help make a child’s transition into a wheelchair easier:
- Musical Statues: Leader plays music while the children move around. When the music stops the children have to stop. Whoever doesn’t stop is out of the game and the last person remaining gets to be the leader.
- Flashlight Discovery: Tape a flashlight to the wheelchair and dim the lights. Have the children enjoy driving around shining their light on items in the large room.
- Squish the Juice box: Place an empty juice box on the ground and children drive over it to see who has the flattest one. Full juice boxes can be fun to squish outside.
- Tortoise and the Hare: Children line up on one end of the room/field and when you say “tortoise” they have to drive as slowly as possible and when you say “hare” they have to drive as quickly as possible.
- Shark Attack: Children line up on one side of the room/field. Yell “shark attack” and count to 10 before catching the kids who have driven to the other side.
- Steamroller: Children can push a large therapy roll from one area to another to pretend they are a steamroller, bobcat tractor, snowplow, paddlewheel boat etc. Ensure the roll won’t get trapped under wheelchair wheels or under the footrests.
- You Scored!: Children push a large therapy ball or other large ball that won’t get caught under the wheelchair wheels or footrests into a goal area to score.
Activities that Promote Inclusion
- Bowling: Children can push the large therapy roll on its side or a large ball to knock over bowling pins (plastic bottles)
- Treasure Hunt: Children can pretend they are pirates and hunt for hidden treasure around the room or in several rooms. Scavenger hunts are a fun option where children locate items on a list or that relate to a current learning theme.
- Obstacle Courses: Children drive through obstacle courses of varying difficulty. Design with common objects such as street chalk, skipping ropes, hose, chairs, cardboard tunnels,homemade street signs, mats, large pylons etc.
- Grocery Shopping: Children drive beside taped paper groceries or near toy or real grocery items and collect them in on their lap, in a basket, or backpack with help if needed. Any number of items can be collected (i.e. stickers) or delivered such as letters (i.e. pretending to be a postman).
- Clothesline: Children drive to a clothesline that has various items hanging from it and either grabs the item that is requested or stops underneath that item.
- Dress Up: Children drive around the room to locate items they’d like to wear for a costume (i.e. scarves, hats, shirts).
The copyright of the article 13 Activities for Children in Power Wheelchairs in Accessible Recreation is owned by Kimberley Powell. Permission to republish 13 Activities for Children in Power Wheelchairs in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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