The Importance of Active Play: How Physiotherapy Encourages Healthy Movement in Children
Children in Coquitlam, Port Moody, Port Coquitlam, and Surrey are growing up in an era vastly different from previous generations. While technology offers incredible learning opportunities and connectivity, it has fundamentally changed how children spend their time. Pediatric physiotherapists across the Lower Mainland are witnessing the consequences: children with reduced strength, poor coordination, delayed motor skill development, and declining physical fitness.
Active play—the spontaneous, energetic, physical activity that once filled childhood—is disappearing from many children's lives. Physiotherapy offers evidence-based strategies to counteract this trend, helping families understand why movement matters and providing practical approaches to encourage healthy physical development through play.
The Changing Landscape of Childhood Activity
A generation ago, children spent hours outdoors playing tag, climbing trees, riding bicycles, and inventing active games. Today's children face a dramatically different reality. Research indicates that Canadian children spend an average of 7-8 hours daily in sedentary activities, with screen time accounting for much of this inactivity.
The statistics are sobering. Only 35% of Canadian children aged 5-17 meet the recommended 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily. This represents a significant decline from previous decades, with consequences that extend far beyond childhood fitness levels.
Physiotherapists in the Tri-Cities and Surrey are seeing children as young as five or six who cannot perform basic movements that were once universal—running with proper form, hopping on one foot, throwing and catching a ball, or climbing playground equipment confidently. These aren't children with diagnosed developmental conditions; they're typically developing kids whose movement experiences have been so limited that fundamental motor skills haven't developed adequately.
Understanding Active Play and Its Benefits
Active play is physical activity that is freely chosen, child-directed, and intrinsically motivated. It's playing for the pure enjoyment of movement, without adult-imposed structure, rules, or performance expectations. This includes running, jumping, climbing, dancing, wrestling, spinning, tumbling, and countless other spontaneous physical activities children naturally engage in when given opportunity and encouragement.
The benefits of active play extend across all domains of child development:
Physical Development: Active play builds cardiovascular fitness, muscular strength, bone density, flexibility, and motor skill proficiency. Studies demonstrate that children who engage in regular active play have better overall physical fitness, healthier body composition, and superior motor competence compared to less active peers.
Cognitive Benefits: Physical activity enhances brain function. Active play increases blood flow to the brain, stimulates the release of growth factors that support neural development, and enhances executive functions like attention, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. Children who are more physically active perform better academically, contrary to concerns that activity time detracts from learning.
Social-Emotional Development: Active play with peers teaches cooperation, negotiation, conflict resolution, and emotional regulation. The rough-and-tumble play that adults sometimes discourage actually helps children learn to read social cues, regulate intensity of interaction, and develop empathy.
Mental Health: Regular physical activity reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression in children, improves mood, enhances self-esteem, and supports better sleep. For children in Port Moody and Coquitlam experiencing stress or emotional challenges, increasing active play can be therapeutic.
Risk Assessment and Resilience: When children climb, jump from heights, balance on narrow surfaces, and test their physical limits during play, they develop risk assessment skills and build resilience. Learning to evaluate challenges, attempt difficult tasks, experience minor failures, and persist develops confidence that transfers beyond physical domains.
The Screen Time Challenge
Digital devices are ubiquitous in modern childhood. Tablets, smartphones, computers, and gaming systems offer compelling content designed to capture and hold attention. For many families in Surrey and the Tri-Cities, managing screen time has become one of the greatest parenting challenges.
The Canadian Paediatric Society and Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines recommend:
Children under 2 years: no screen time
Ages 2-5 years: maximum 1 hour daily of high-quality programming
Ages 5-17 years: no more than 2 hours daily of recreational screen time
Most children far exceed these recommendations. Research shows that excessive screen time is associated with delayed language development, attention problems, reduced social skills, obesity, poor sleep, and decreased physical fitness.
How Screens Affect Physical Development
Screen time directly displaces active play. Every hour spent on devices is an hour not spent moving, and this inactivity has measurable physical consequences.
Children who spend excessive time on screens show:
Reduced cardiorespiratory fitness and muscular strength
Poor motor skill development, particularly fundamental movement skills
Decreased bone density due to lack of weight-bearing activity
Higher rates of obesity
Postural problems from prolonged sitting in poor positions
Visual problems from sustained near-focus activities
Reduced proprioception (body awareness) and spatial orientation
Beyond displacing activity, screen time may directly impair motor development. When young children spend hours swiping tablets rather than manipulating real objects, stacking blocks, or engaging in physical play, they miss critical experiences that build motor planning, hand-eye coordination, and spatial reasoning.
The Physiotherapy Response to Screen Time Concerns
Physiotherapists help families address screen time concerns through:
Family Education: Explaining the developmental importance of active play and the specific physical skills that may be delayed by excessive screen time. Understanding why movement matters motivates families to prioritize activity.
Practical Strategies: Providing concrete approaches to reduce screen time and increase activity. This might include screen-free zones (like bedrooms and dining areas), screen-free times (first hour after school, before bedtime), and "earn your screen time" systems where children engage in physical activity to earn device privileges.
Movement Prescription: Just as physicians prescribe medication, physiotherapists can prescribe specific amounts and types of movement. For a child in Coquitlam showing delays in motor skill development related to inactivity, a physiotherapist might prescribe 90 minutes daily of active play, including 30 minutes of outdoor unstructured play, 30 minutes of structured activities (swimming lessons, soccer practice), and 30 minutes of active family activities.
Screen-Based Activity Options: Recognizing that eliminating screens entirely isn't realistic for most families, physiotherapists can recommend active video games and apps that encourage movement. While not equivalent to outdoor play, games requiring physical movement are vastly superior to sedentary screen time.
The Power of Outdoor Play
Outdoor environments offer unique opportunities for physical development that indoor spaces cannot replicate. Natural settings provide uneven surfaces, varied terrain, opportunities for risk-taking, and sensory experiences that support motor learning.
Benefits Specific to Outdoor Play
Enhanced Motor Skill Development: Outdoor environments naturally challenge balance, coordination, and strength in ways that flat, predictable indoor surfaces don't. Walking on uneven ground, climbing over rocks and logs, navigating hills, and balancing on curbs all provide rich motor learning experiences. Research demonstrates that children with regular outdoor play opportunities develop superior balance and coordination compared to those whose play occurs primarily indoors.
Greater Activity Intensity: Studies consistently show children are more physically active outdoors than indoors. The space, freedom, and environmental variety of outdoor settings naturally encourage running, exploring, and energetic play. Children in Port Moody parks engage in more vigorous activity than those in indoor play spaces.
Sensory Integration: Outdoor play provides diverse sensory input—feeling grass, sand, and mud; experiencing temperature changes and wind; hearing natural sounds; seeing varied colors and patterns; smelling flowers and earth. This sensory richness supports neurological development and helps children integrate sensory information more effectively.
Vitamin D and Overall Health: Outdoor play provides sun exposure necessary for vitamin D synthesis, which supports bone health, immune function, and mood regulation. Children spending adequate time outdoors have better sleep patterns, stronger immune systems, and reduced myopia (nearsightedness) risk.
Connection with Nature: Time in natural environments reduces stress, improves attention, and supports mental health. For children in Surrey who have access to parks and green spaces, regular outdoor time provides both physical and psychological benefits.
Addressing Barriers to Outdoor Play
Despite the benefits, many children spend minimal time outdoors. Common barriers include:
Safety Concerns: Parents worry about stranger danger, traffic, and injuries. While caution is appropriate, many concerns are disproportionate to actual risks. Physiotherapists can help families identify safe outdoor spaces in Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam and discuss realistic risk assessment.
Weather: British Columbia's rainy climate is frequently cited as a barrier to outdoor play. The Norwegian saying "There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing" applies here. Proper rain gear, layers, and waterproof boots enable year-round outdoor play.
Lack of Nearby Safe Spaces: Some neighborhoods lack parks or safe streets for active play. Physiotherapists can help families identify lesser-known spaces, advocate for community improvements, and connect with programs that provide supervised outdoor activities.
Structured Schedules: Many children have calendars filled with organized activities, leaving little time for unstructured outdoor play. While structured activities have value, they shouldn't completely replace free play.
Parental Time Constraints: Working parents may feel they lack time to supervise outdoor play. Strategies include incorporating activity into daily routines (walking or biking to school, active family time after dinner) and allowing age-appropriate independent outdoor play.
Coordination Development Through Play
Coordination—the ability to execute smooth, accurate, controlled movements—develops through practice and experience. Active play provides ideal conditions for coordination development.
How Play Builds Coordination
Repetition with Variation: Effective motor learning requires numerous repetitions, but not identical repetitions. Play naturally provides this—a child jumping off a low wall does it hundreds of times, but each jump is slightly different, requiring adjustment and adaptation. This variability strengthens motor learning more effectively than drill-like practice.
Intrinsic Motivation: Children persist longer and try harder at activities they find intrinsically enjoyable. A child might willingly practice catching a ball for 30 minutes during play but resist 5 minutes of formal catching drills.
Problem-Solving Opportunities: Unstructured play constantly presents motor challenges requiring creative solutions. How can I reach that branch? What's the best way to climb this structure? How fast can I run without losing control? Children experiment with different movement strategies, learning through trial and error.
Progressive Challenge: Children naturally seek activities at the edge of their abilities—challenging but achievable. This "just right challenge" level is optimal for skill development. Adults often either underestimate children's abilities (providing insufficient challenge) or expect skills beyond their current level (leading to frustration).
Fundamental Movement Skills
Fundamental movement skills are the building blocks for more complex movements and sports. They include:
Locomotor Skills: Running, jumping, hopping, galloping, skipping, sliding, leaping
Object Control Skills: Throwing, catching, kicking, striking, bouncing, rolling
Stability Skills: Balancing, twisting, turning, bending, landing, stopping
These skills don't develop automatically—they require instruction, practice, and feedback. Research shows that many children don't achieve proficiency in fundamental movement skills without deliberate practice opportunities.
Active play provides natural contexts for developing these skills. A child playing tag practices running, dodging, and quick direction changes. Playing catch develops hand-eye coordination, timing, and object control. Climbing playground equipment builds strength, balance, and spatial awareness.
The Role of Physiotherapy in Coordination Development
Physiotherapists support coordination development by:
Assessment: Identifying specific skills that need development using standardized tools and observational assessment. A physiotherapist in Surrey might identify that a 7-year-old cannot hop on one foot or catch a ball, indicating coordination delays.
Targeted Intervention: Providing activities and games that systematically develop lacking skills. Treatment might involve practicing specific movement patterns in fun, engaging ways that feel like play rather than therapy.
Parent Education: Teaching parents and caregivers how to facilitate skill development during everyday play. Simple modifications—like using a larger, softer ball for catching practice or providing verbal cues during running—can significantly accelerate learning.
Environmental Recommendations: Suggesting play equipment, spaces, and activities that support coordination development. Families in Coquitlam might receive recommendations for specific parks with equipment that challenges their child appropriately, or suggestions for toys and games that develop targeted skills.
Addressing Underlying Issues: When coordination problems stem from underlying conditions like developmental coordination disorder, low muscle tone, or sensory processing difficulties, physiotherapists provide specialized interventions addressing root causes.
Active Play Across Developmental Stages
The form and function of active play evolves as children develop:
Infants (0-12 months)
Active play includes tummy time, reaching for toys, rolling, crawling, pulling to stand, and cruising along furniture. These activities build strength, spatial awareness, and movement foundations. Parents in Port Moody can incorporate movement into daily routines through floor play, baby-wearing during walks, and providing safe spaces for movement exploration.
Toddlers (1-3 years)
Newly mobile toddlers need opportunities to practice walking on varied surfaces, climbing, going up and down stairs, running, jumping, and dancing. Outdoor exploration, playground visits, and active music and movement games support development. This age requires close supervision but benefits enormously from freedom to move and explore.
Preschoolers (3-5 years)
Preschoolers develop more sophisticated skills—riding tricycles or balance bikes, climbing more complex structures, beginning to catch and throw balls, and engaging in active imaginative play. They benefit from both unstructured outdoor play and some structured activities teaching specific skills. Programs at community centers in Surrey and Coquitlam offer excellent opportunities.
Early Elementary (6-9 years)
Children refine fundamental movement skills, begin participating in organized sports, and engage in more complex active games with rules. They need opportunities for both structured sports/activities and unstructured active play with peers. This is a critical period for developing movement competence that supports lifelong activity.
Late Elementary and Adolescence (10+ years)
Older children and teens need varied physical activities matching their interests—whether team sports, individual pursuits, recreational activities, or fitness training. Continued active play remains valuable even as organized activities increase. Physiotherapists help teens find activities they genuinely enjoy rather than forcing participation in activities they dislike.
Pregnancy, Postpartum, and Modeling Active Lifestyles
Pregnant women and new mothers play crucial roles in establishing active family cultures, even as they navigate physical changes and demands of their own.
Staying Active During Pregnancy
Physical activity during pregnancy benefits both mother and developing baby. Research demonstrates that prenatal exercise reduces risk of gestational diabetes, excessive weight gain, and postpartum depression while improving maternal fitness and labor outcomes.
For women in Port Coquitlam and Coquitlam, physiotherapists provide guidance on safe activities during pregnancy, modifications as pregnancy progresses, and strategies for staying active despite fatigue and physical discomfort. Activities like walking, swimming, prenatal yoga, and modified strength training can continue throughout most pregnancies.
Staying active during pregnancy also models healthy behaviors for older children in the family, establishing that movement remains a priority across life stages.
Postpartum Return to Activity
The postpartum period presents unique challenges—physical recovery from childbirth, sleep deprivation, demands of infant care, and often limited time for self-care. However, returning to physical activity benefits both mother and baby.
Postpartum physiotherapy helps women:
Safely return to exercise after delivery
Address issues like abdominal separation, pelvic floor weakness, and back pain
Incorporate movement into days filled with infant care
Find activities compatible with breastfeeding and infant routines
Build strength and endurance for the physical demands of parenting
Active mothers naturally incorporate movement into family life—taking children to parks, going for walks with strollers, dancing with toddlers, and later participating in active play with older children.
Establishing Active Family Cultures
Children whose parents are physically active are significantly more likely to be active themselves. Families that prioritize outdoor time, play together actively, and limit screen time raise children with healthier movement habits.
Simple strategies for active families include:
Daily outdoor time regardless of weather
Active transportation (walking or biking) when possible
Weekend activities centered on movement rather than screens
Active family games and challenges
Participating in children's active play rather than just supervising
Making movement fun rather than framing it as obligation or punishment
Practical Recommendations for Increasing Active Play
Physiotherapists provide families with concrete strategies for incorporating more active play:
For Families
Establish screen-free times and zones
Prioritize outdoor time daily, even if brief
Provide open-ended toys encouraging active play (balls, jump ropes, bikes, outdoor exploration tools)
Visit varied parks and playgrounds offering different movement challenges
Enroll children in activities they genuinely enjoy
Model active lifestyles
Allow age-appropriate risk-taking during play
Reduce over-scheduling to preserve free play time
For Communities
Physiotherapists in Surrey and the Tri-Cities advocate for:
Safe, accessible outdoor spaces in all neighborhoods
Well-maintained playgrounds with equipment challenging various skill levels
Traffic calming measures enabling safe active transportation
Year-round outdoor programs and activities
School policies protecting recess and physical education time
Community design supporting active living
When to Seek Physiotherapy Support
Families should consider physiotherapy consultation when:
A child seems significantly less coordinated than peers
Motor milestones are delayed
A child avoids physical activities or appears anxious about movement
Physical challenges affect school participation or social relationships
A child has low fitness levels or poor endurance
Parents want guidance on supporting physical development
Physiotherapists assess whether concerning patterns represent normal variation, delays requiring intervention, or underlying conditions needing specialized support.
The Long-Term Importance of Childhood Activity
Physical activity patterns established in childhood track into adolescence and adulthood. Children who are active tend to become active adults, while sedentary children often remain sedentary. The current generation of children in Coquitlam, Port Moody, Port Coquitlam, and Surrey will be the first to potentially have shorter life expectancies than their parents due to inactivity-related health problems.
However, this trajectory isn't inevitable. By prioritizing active play, limiting screen time, encouraging outdoor experiences, and supporting coordination development, families can give children the movement experiences they need for healthy development and lifelong physical activity.
Physiotherapy offers evidence-based guidance and support for families navigating the challenges of raising active children in an increasingly sedentary world. Through assessment, education, targeted intervention when needed, and advocacy for activity-supportive environments, physiotherapists play a vital role in promoting healthy movement and development.
Every child deserves the opportunity to experience the pure joy of active play—running until breathless, climbing to new heights, mastering new skills, and discovering what their bodies can do. Supporting active play isn't just about physical development; it's about giving children the foundation for healthy, active, fulfilling lives.
References
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Robinson, L. E., Stodden, D. F., Barnett, L. M., et al. (2015). Motor Competence and its Effect on Positive Developmental Trajectories of Health. Sports Medicine, 45(9), 1273-1284. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26201678/
Hinkley, T., Timperio, A., Watson, A., et al. (2017). Prospective associations with physiological, psychosocial and educational outcomes of meeting Australian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 14(1), 88. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5479522/
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Engel, A. C., Broderick, C. R., van Doorn, N., Hardy, L. L., & Parmenter, B. J. (2018). Exploring the Relationship Between Fundamental Motor Skill Interventions and Physical Activity Levels in Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Sports Medicine, 48(8), 1845-1857. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26392333/
Davenport, M. H., Ruchat, S. M., Poitras, V. J., et al. (2018). Prenatal exercise for the prevention of gestational diabetes mellitus and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 52(21), 1367-1375. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6928396/