Outdoor Play in Occupational Therapy

With the warmer weather coming up, it’s a great opportunity to explore new ways to provide therapy. Conducting therapy in an outdoor setting is a great way to motivate children to want to participate in the therapeutic activities, and this “can lead to deeper internalized learning for generalization to tother settings in daily life.”¹ Being outdoors allows for inspiration to flow, using new ways to incorporate therapy goals into the new setting.

In the past years, there has been a lot of advocating done to incorporate more physical activity in the schools to fight inactivity and childhood obesity. Incorporating therapy outdoors is another way to help include more physical activity in a child’s day. 

Benefits

According to AOTA² the benefits of outdoor play include:

·      Playing outside offers kids a chance to explore different environments and can provide opportunities to experience new sensory experiences. 

·      Due to the terrain outside, activities such as running around, balancing on a log, etc. can improve gross motor functions like coordination and balance. 

·      Preparing for activities can help the child work on ADLs.

·      Physical activity is also an important part of a child’s day. Getting enough physical activity helps with attention and allowing the body to get more efficient rest throughout the night. 

·      Playing outside is another great thing to incorporate into group programs, which additionally help build skills around social interaction. 

Outdoor play is a great precursor to other therapy activities such as working on fine motor skills through handwriting. It helps the child focus and get rid of some energy to be able to maintain their attention on other tasks. Outdoor play can improve meltdowns around getting dirty or muddy, social skills, motor planning challenges, and vestibular and proprioceptive processing. 

Outdoor Play Examples

Outdoor sessions can include playing on the playground, climbing branches, balancing on logs, jumping over or walking on parking curbs or lines. Through these climbing, balancing, running, and jumping activities, shoulder and core strength can be increased, social skills improved, and overall physical wellbeing enhanced. 

Outdoor therapy is a great way to engage in exploratory play. Have the child play with chalk or bring some of the gym equipment outside. You can also create a scavenger hunt, or arrange some sticks, leaves, or rocks in the shape of letter, numbers, or shapes that the child is learning.

If some children struggle with social participation, start them off by just having them watch and offer verbal assurance. If you can’t make it outside, offer the idea to the parents and show them how they can incorporate what you are working on in therapy outside. That helps with generalization of skills.  

• In-Text Citations

  1. Wilkinson, Kimberly, Laura Figueroa, and Jules Doliscar, “From Stick Forts to Snowmen: Exploring the Benefits of Outdoor Play in Pediatric Occupational Therapy Practice,” OT Practice. 26, no. 2 (2021): 3, https://www.aota.org/publications/ot-practice/ot-practice-issues/2021/outdoor-play.

  2. Wilkinson, Kimberly, Laura Figueroa, and Jules Doliscar, “From Stick Forts to Snowmen,” 3 (Fig. 1).

• Source

  Wilkinson, Kimberly, Laura Figueroa, and Jules Doliscar, “From Stick Forts to Snowmen: Exploring the Benefits of Outdoor Play in Pediatric Occupational Therapy Practice,” OT Practice. 26, no. 2 (2021): 1-10, https://www.aota.org/publications/ot-practice/ot-practice-issues/2021/outdoor-play.