Incorporating HEP's into Daily Activities

All Care Therapies
2 days ago
3 min read

In a recent blog post, we discussed why a home exercise program (HEP) is so important to do between therapy sessions. This post will focus on ways to make

doing these exercises easier and smoother, especially with being out of school for the next couple of months.

Below are examples of some activities you can do and the target areas they address, which should correlate with several of the activities your therapist might already be telling you to work on at home!

Balance Activities:

- Hopscotch Course or Chalk Obstacle Course

With some chalk outside, set up a hopscotch course or creative obstacle course! You can include the classic set up, but also some fun new things like a “log on water” to balance on, or some curly lines to walk forwards and backwards on.

- Carrying Weighted Objects

This can be a laundry basket full of towels, items at the grocery store,

or toys they have played with to put away.

- Floor is Lava

Set up pillows, cushions, or anything you have into a pattern on the

floor and make a creative path for your kiddos to avoid the “lava” beneath them.

Lower Extremity: (Coordination and Strength)

- Riding a bike or scooter

Always with a helmet on, encourage play outside on their bicycle or standing scooter. As they get stronger and able, work on going up/down low hills, or using less pushes to go a certain distance on the scooter.

- Pushing the cart while shopping

This is a great one for full body work, but especially on the core and glute/hamstring strengthening. The more objects in the cart, within their personal tolerance, the harder the exercise.

- Standing on a single leg to take off and put on shoes

If balance is a challenge, let them put one hand on a surface. This works ankle and knee stability all the way up to the hip! Great little “exercise snack” to get in tasks working towards their goals.

Core/Upper Extremity (Coordination and Strength):

- Throwing/Catching a ball

Playing outside with siblings or parents while playing catch with a football, tennis ball, beach ball, or anything you have.

- Play a game of Twister

A fun game for the whole family to join in on to target working on upper extremity and core strength.

- Adventure at the Playground

Always with parent/caregiver supervision, allow them to climb play equipment, work on monkey bars, riding the spring rocking animals, or swinging on the swing. All are great ways to work on their core and upper extremity.

All of these are ways your child can continue therapy and making progress towards their goals! Home exercise programs don’t have to be a challenge to get done, use these creative ways to start to incorporate tasks off your child’s HEP into your life!

Resources:

Mahmood Q, Habibullah S, Aurakzai HU. Effectiveness of simple and

basic home-based exercise programs including pediatric massage

executed by caregivers at their homes in the management of children

with spastic cerebral palsy: A randomized controlled trial. J Pediatr

Rehabil Med. 2024;17(1):97-106. doi:10.3233/PRM-220135

Katz-Leurer M, Rotem H, Keren O, Meyer S. The effects of a 'home-

based' task-oriented exercise programme on motor and balance

performance in children with spastic cerebral palsy and severe

traumatic brain injury. Clin Rehabil. 2009;23(8):714-724.

doi:10.1177/0269215509335293

Bulut N, Karaduman A, Alemdaroğlu-Gürbüz İ, Yılmaz Ö, Topaloğlu H,