The scooter is a staple of many elementary school physical education programs. It’s also a great exercise tool for children with Down Syndrome. I like it because it develops balance and coordination, develops core endurance, requires the child to develop lower body strength and endurance, is a leveler because nobody is skilled on these, and accomplishes all this in a fun way. For the kids I’ve found that this is always one of the most fun parts of a fitness class (after all, who doesn’t like rolling on the floor at high speeds?).
A picture of a scooter is below. I use these in two manners. The first involves individual exercise, the second involves sports.
When it comes to exercises, the two big ones are sit and scoot and lie and scoot. The sit and scoot teaches balance, develops the muscles of the lower body, and improves the endurance of the core muscles. This is where the child sits on the scooter with their feet on the ground and then pushes or pulls themselves using their legs. The lie and scoot involves lying down on their torso, face down, and using their arms primarily to pull and push themselves along. This develops the muscles of their upper body and the muscles along the spine that are stabilizing them.
In terms of sports, there are three that I like to play with kids. All three involve using some type of goal. The first is a game of scooter soccer (sit on the scooter, kick the ball). The second is a game of scooter hockey (sit on the scooter, use a hockey puck, and use miniature hockey sticks to move the puck along). The final is a game using a ball where the kids sit on the scooters and pass the ball to each other.
Each of these games is fast-paced and very fun. In addition, they continue to develop everything that the scooter can develop in a manner that the kids don’t realize is exercise in addition to endurance, and burning a lot of calories. Finally, these games reinforce sports skills but in a non-threatening manner because nobody is good at sports when sitting on a scooter!
