Sports for Pediatric Patients:
A Guide for Parents
Part 1: Why Sports Matter
What value does sports offer my child? How can my child be involved with sports as a patient?
Sports do not have to mean competitive matches and intense training. Sport activities can be as simple as playing catch. Sports can be an accessible form of exercise that can be adapted to fit one's abilities. The beauty of sports is that it combines physical activity, play and diversion, and social connection all in one activity. Decades of research and dozens of studies have supported the fact that sports are incredibly beneficial for pediatric patients.
Let’s break down exactly what sports offer:
Physical Activity: Sports allow pediatric patients an opportunity to move around. Continuing to move while undergoing treatment helps with building muscle strength, improving endurance, and preventing deconditioning during hospitalization. It also aids with working through the pain of rehabilitation.
Play and Diversion: Undergoing treatment at the hospital as a child is an incredibly stressful time. Sports activities offer a fun escape and positive outlet and allow kids to be kids, not just patients.
Social Connection: Playing with a friend, family member, or hospital staff member can help increase connection and prevent loneliness during this time of isolation.
With modification, sports can offer all pediatric patients, regardless of mobility, incredible physical, mental, and social benefits!
Part 2: The Physical Benefits
As you can imagine, there are many physical benefits of sports. Whether it is balloon volleyball or soccer, playing sports offers a fun way to stay active and in motion. While undergoing treatment at the hospital, it can be easy to spend much of the day sedentary and on electronic devices. While rest is important, too much inactivity can slow recovery and lead to even longer hospital stays. Research has shown that physical activity in pediatric patients causes increases in muscle strength and reduced hospitalization time. There are many barriers to physical activity which is needed for rehabilitation for children including boredom, fatigue, and no one to play with. Research has pointed out that having a play partner is critical in enhancing exercise participation during treatment. Sports offer a fun and engaging way to interact with others while improving physical activity.
How exercise improves muscle strength:
An in-hospital exercise intervention for pediatric cancer patients undergoing aggressive treatments showed improvements in muscle strength.
How physical activity decreases hospitalization time:
In-hospital exercise benefits in childhood cancer: A prospective cohort study, 2020
An in-hospital exercise intervention is safe and feasible and can yield important benefits in the muscle strength and functional capacity of children with cancer.
How partners can overcome barriers to physical activity:
Influences and Barriers on Physical Activity in Pediatric Oncology Patients, 2016
Family and physician support play critical roles in enhancing exercise participation during treatment.
Part 3: The Mental Benefits
Children receiving treatment at the hospital often experience new emotions such as uncertainty and stress. In isolation, they may spend time ruminating about their condition and feeling sad. Sports can serve as something to look forward to – a break from the monotonous routine of being in the hospital. The mental benefits of sports can come from not only playing sports but also from watching sports games or collecting and playing with sports trading cards. Learning about different sports teams and players, reading the statistics on the back of the cards, and discussing with friends and family can be a great outlet for children. These are activities that all ages and activity levels of children can enjoy. Research has supported that the play and diversion aspects of sports reduce anxiety and depression and are linked with increased self-efficacy, confidence, and emotional resilience in pediatric patients.
How play interventions reduce anxiety and negative emotions:
Play interventions to reduce anxiety and negative emotions in hospitalized children, 2016
Play interventions are effective in reducing anxiety and negative emotions in hospitalized children.
How sports improve self-efficacy and confidence:
Sport participation among children and adolescents with a physical disability or chronic disease was linked with self-efficacy.
How play encourages emotional resilience:
The Power of Play: A Pediatric Role in Enhancing Development in Young Children, 2018
Play enhances brain structure and function and promotes executive function which allows us to pursue goals and ignore distractions.
Part 4: The Social Benefits
One of the biggest changes for children undergoing medical challenges is being away from their familiar communities. Receiving treatment can mean no longer being in class with their friends, or on their sports team with their teammates. Continuing to play a modified version of their sports and interacting with others greatly enhances social well-being and a sense of community. Replacing screen time and social media with interactive social engagement and moments of connection is especially important for children at this critical time in their development. The companionship and bonds that they develop through playing sports help make their hospital stay less lonely and improve their quality of life.
How sports improve social skills:
Organized Sports for Children, Preadolescents, and Adolescents, 2019
Sports are linked with increases in overall childhood and adolescent physical, emotional, and social health.
How physical activity improves socialization and quality of life:
Sport participation among children and adolescents with a physical disability or chronic disease was linked with self-efficacy.
Part 5: Myths and Facts
Many misconceptions about physical activity for pediatric patients exist. Let us dismantle them one by one.
Myth 1: Children with limited mobility can not participate in sports.
Fact: Sports can be adapted to each child’s physical abilities! For example, baseball can be as simple as playing catch with a soft ball at the bedside.
Myth 2: Sports are only beneficial for physical exercise.
Fact: What makes sports such a beneficial activity are its mental and social benefits. There is nothing more valuable than being able to have fun with others and momentarily get your mind off of the worries of hospitalization.
Myth 3: Play and diversion is not important during medical treatment.
Fact: Play is incredibly important in reducing anxiety and negative emotions. Happier children have better health outcomes!
Myth 4: It is better to avoid reminders of a child’s life outside of the hospital.
Fact: Sports offer a sense of normalcy and joy in an otherwise foreign and monotonous environment. Kids should be treated like kids, not just patients.
Myth 5: Playing with sports trading cards and watching sports games has no value.
Fact: Trading cards and watching games are accessible activities that children of all ages and ability levels can stay connected with sports by in the hospital. For many children who are struggling with the loss of ability to play sports, these activities can continue participating in their passion.
Part 6: Cards 4 Kids
How can sports be incorporated into my child’s life while in the hospital? How can Cards 4 Kids help?
Now that you have learned about the physical, mental, and social benefits of sports, it is time to translate these insights into action!
That is where Cards 4 Kids comes in – we are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering genuine connections, creating moments of joy, and building a supportive community for children through interactive, fun, and accessible sports-inspired activities.
Recognizing that the traditional avenues of sports can be beyond reach for pediatric patients, we aim to bring the joy of sports to them. Founded during the COVID-19 pandemic, our initiative began by distributing sports trading cards to children in hospitals across the world, hoping to provide a tangible escape for children during times of isolation. Our individually wrapped starter packs of cards include a printed message for each child to read, encouraging them to create a collection, trade with their neighbors, and learn about new sports.
Today, our mission has expanded to building supportive in-person networks between student athlete volunteers and pediatric patients, centered around the unifying and healing nature of sports. At our university chapters across the world, most of our volunteers are 18-22, close in age to many of the patients, creating a peer-like dynamic that fosters friendship and trust. Our volunteers meet patients individually and also in group settings, adapting to each child’s comfort level, health conditions, physical ability, ongoing treatment plans, and interests. Our events and activities have been carefully designed in collaboration with Child Life Specialists at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital to facilitate personal connections and meaningful bonding between patients and volunteers. Through entertaining and accessible sports-related activities including trading card games, arts and crafts, and bingo, we ensure that all patients from ages two to eighteen are able to participate and have fun.
Sign your child up to connect with Cards 4 Kids for weekly personal visits below!
