5 Workouts and Exercise Videos for Toddlers and Children With Down Syndrome
Exercise has great physical benefits for everyone. It maintains cardiovascular health (preventing conditions like stroke and heart disease), boosts mental health and self-esteem and assists our bodies in managing blood sugar and insulin levels, which can help with weight control.
Exercise offers additional benefits for children with Down Syndrome, including:
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Building strength, which improves gross motor skills and leads to more independent living.
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If our child has low tone, exercise can negate it. This improves physical function and boosts our child’s ability to take part in sports and higher level activities such as running, jumping and climbing.
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Reduces fatigue, improves exercise tolerance and helps improved sleep, all of which can be a problem for our children.
Because it’s not always possible to get out, exercising at home can be a nice option for our children. The Internet is a great place to start – there are lots of freely available exercise videos online, some of which are specifically aimed at children with additional needs. We share some of our favourites below.
Exercise and Workout Vidoes
Although not specifically adapted for disability, this series by Misha and Monkey may work for our children. There are some nice easy exercises which are well explained and demonstrated with lots of time to get it right.Â
This is a brilliant resource by Cosmic Kids is helpful to teach yoga and mindfulness to smaller children. There are lots of great themes to keep it fun and engaging for children with all interests. They use simple instructions so this may also work for some older children with Down Syndrome.Â
Lucy includes drawings in her workout videos to add interest for children.Â
Koo Koo Kanga Roo includes a very large series of videos.
They have some fun songs and some easy to follow dance moves or you can just do your own thing. There is something for any child’s taste.Â
This channel  boasts “healthy music for a child’s heart, body and mind”. It is aimed at toddlers and pre-school children with lots of songs to sing and dance along to. Lovely simple movements so easy to follow or just freestyle dance to.Â
