Pediatric Exercises

At this time of year in 2020, school districts are in the process of getting ready to re-open with in-person classes and/or remote learning to avoid the risks of COVID-19 infection. For school-based physical therapist, there is uncertainty on whether they will be able to meet their students face-to-face or utilize online meeting services.

During the summer period, we have received several queries from school-based therapists on how PT-Connect can meet their needs. PT-Connect provides therapists the option of printing out prescribed exercises, emailing a PDF of the prescribed exercises to the student or student’s guardian, or having the student download our free PT-Helper mobile app (available on Android and iOS) and enter their unique HEP code to download their prescribed exercises to their smartphone.

In addition to providing these services, we have been busy adding to our pediatric exercise library. A sample of new exercises added are:

  • Child Learning to Jump/Bounce on a Cushion: Place a mattress or furniture cushion on the floor. Stand your child on top of the cushion. Hold your child’s hands with your hands. Bend your knees and encourage your child to bend their knees as well. Tell your child to jump. As he/she begins to rise up, help the child by lifting them with their arms as they push up with their legs. As your child successfully jumps with the power of their own legs, hold them with one hand as they continue to jump. Continue for the duration of the Hold time.

  • Child Learning to Move from Hands and Knees to Tall-Kneeling: Place your child on their hands and knees beside you. Place one hand across your child’s bottom and the other hand across the middle of their chest. Use both hands to move your child back towards their heels to transfer their weight off their hands and towards their legs. Lift your child’s chest upright and use your other hand to bring their hips forward. Stop when your child is in the tall-kneeling position with their shoulders directly over their hips and hips over their knees. Encourage your child to keep his/her head up and body upright and straight. Hips and legs straight, tops of their feet on the floor. Bring your child back down to their hands and knees and repeat for the duration of the Hold time.

  • Child Ball Sit Ups: Sit on the floor with an exercise ball between your legs. Place your child sitting on top of the ball in front of you. Use your legs to squeeze the ball to prevent it from rolling around. Lay your child back on the ball and hold his/her arms. You can move the ball forwards or backwards to make it easier or harder for your child to sit back up. Use your forearms to press against your child’s thighs to prevent them from sliding forward as you pull on your child’s arms to help them sit back upright.


If you are a school-based physical therapist and would like us to add new exercises, please contact us at info@pt-helper.com.

Our pediatric exercises can also be found in our patient focused app PT-Helper Pro in the iPhone App Store and Google Play Store.

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