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Activities for Preschoolers with Cerebral Palsy

According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes, 800,000 Americans have cerebral palsy and 10,000 babies born each year in the U.S. will develop CP. Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder that develops in infancy or early childhood and affects motor skills due to a brain injury that occurred in the womb, during birth or soon after. It is a permanent disorder, not a disease, and it is not progressive. Early intervention is important in the treatment of CP.

  1. Activities for Fine Motor Skills

    • Fine motor skills are those involving hands and fingers, and smaller, more detailed movements. Some toys especially good for developing fine motor skills are building toys, lacing cards and stringing beads. Finger painting is a good activity also, and can be done with regular finger paint, pudding or shaving cream. Soft modeling caly is another excellent choice, and playing with a toy keyboard is a good activity. Contact a local United Cerebral Palsy organization if your child needs specialized toys to accommodate more severe handicaps, as there are toy-lending libraries in most areas.

    Activities for Gross Motor Skills

    • Gross motor skills involve larger muscles. For older children, activities like horseback riding and swimming are good. Accommodations can be made for those with more severe CP, such as being supported while swimming or special saddles or spotters while on horseback. Simple activities like swinging, emphasizing the pumping action, are beneficial. Children who have difficulty sitting up unassisted can use special swings. Playing catch with a weighted ball, kicking at a ball while seated, and climbing stairs help develop gross motor skills, as does wheelbarrow walking.

    Speech and Language Activities

    • Tape a child talking or singing and play it back. Play taste-test games--children taste sweet, sour and bitter things, and learn appropriate terms for each. Simply blowing bubbles. Play a memory game--put items on a table, and when child isn't looking, remove one; the child tries to remember what it is. Get library books of nursery rhymes or finger plays and do them together. The finger plays will also help with fine motor skills. These activities are suitable for children with varying degrees of severity in their CP; just keep the language at or just above their comfort level.

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