Julie Casey MSW, RSW
Wellness Care Farm
The Elgin St. Thomas Public Health 2011 Healthy Communities reported 53.9% of people 12yrs + are not active or moderately active in their leisure time and 88% of children and youth are not meeting the recommended 90 minutes of physical activity a day,
as outlined in Canada’s Physical Activity Guides.
Animal Assisted Physical Activities
Animals provide natural motivation for participating in physical activities, even through social, physical, emotional and/or mental barriers. Physical activity is achieved through a variety of natural occurring engagement with the animals and the environment. Animals make it so much more fun!
Activities include:
- Exercising, training and playing with the animals
- Feeding and grooming the animals
- Learning animal care
- Maintaining the animal environment which includes mucking out stalls, hauling & spreading bedding, sweeping, and cleaning buckets
Animals make it fun and gives us natural motivation to get active, even through social, emotional, physical and mental barriers!