Programmes

PhysiFun’s Programmes?

PhysiFun’s movement programmes use a combination of ready-to-use strategies for the school and home as well as specific exercises and activities, which draw from the fields of occupational therapy, physiotherapy, mindfulness, breathwork, psychology, neuroscience and exercise physiology to help provide children with opportunities to improve their core development skills of reading, writing, movement, postural control, attention, stress and strength. These strategies & exercises help children to improve their core and shoulder girdle stability, as well as their movement control which is important for handwriting and sitting at desks, as well as providing a fun way of developing and improving their fundamental movement & attention skills. The mindfulness, breathwork and stretch exercises provide a useful way to help teachers facilitate improved executive functioning skills and stress system regulation.

What is the PhysiFun Body & Mind Programme?

Schools are seeing an increasing number of children with difficulties in sitting and concentrating in the classroom, handwriting, core strength and general movement and exercise skills – possibly due to inactive lifestyles, increased time using technology instead of playing outside, environmental factors, increasing stressful, busy lifestyles or underlying developmental difficulties.

PhysiFun Body & Mind is designed for kids who are 4-13 years old (Primary School aged)

PhysiFun Body & Mind has been developed in order to empower schools, teachers and parents to help children improve their movement skills as well as their ability to learn effectively in the classroom, by giving teachers a ready-to-use exercise programme. These exercises and strategies can be used as and when the teacher sees fit and as part of the physical and academic curriculum. The PhysiFun exercises have been designed so that the teacher can use them in the classroom as part of the school day (“little and often” as movement, attention & sensory breaks to facilitate better concentration and let go of stress), or the programme can be run as a formal part of the Physical Education programme in large groups or in smaller movement proficiency groups. A movement coach or teaching assistant could also be trained to run the smaller groups, thereby providing families who have children with additional needs with extra support, understanding, motivation and a fun-to-do exercise programme.
Alternatively, contact your local PhysiFun-trained occupational therapist or physiotherapist so that they might be able to provide a more specialised service for the children with more severe movement difficulties.

Who can run the PhysiFun Body & Mind Programme?

Teachers, teaching assistants, ECD facilitators, physiotherapists and occupational therapists.

What is the PhysiFit Sporty Kids Exercise Programme?

There is also a growing number of sporting children who are injuring themselves or unable to attend the season’s sporting fixtures due to sport related injuries. Physifit addresses underlying issues & factors to prevent injury and ensure that children play sport for life.

PhysiFit is designed for children who are 8-18 years old (Gr3 – Gr12)

Physifit was designed by a physiotherapist who has a masters degree in sports physiotherapy in response to the growing number of children, worldwide, who are dropping out of sport at an earlier age, getting burnout as young as 13 and developing overuse sporting injuries pre adolescence. Many of the reasons for these children not “staying in the game” are completely avoidable just through education of the relevant adults in the child’s life. Coaches and parents need to know how to prevent their child from developing injuries and they need to be given up-to-date-relevant and evidence based exercises to use with children under the age of 14 in order to prevent injury in a safe sporting environment. The Physifit exercise programme uses a combination of Core control exercises, Swiss ball exercises, general overall muscle strengthening exercises, specific resisted muscle strengthening, using wrist and ankle weights, balance, agility, proprioception and general warm up and cool down activities.

Who can run the PhysiFit Programmes?

Sports Coaches affiliated to a school or sports academy and physiotherapists/biokineticists can run PhysiFit.