Young Athletes Program

Special Olympics Young Athletes is a sport and play program for children with and without intellectual disabilities, ages 2 to 7 years old. Young Athletes introduces basic sport skills, like running, kicking and throwing. Young Athletes offers families, teachers, caregivers and people from the community the chance to share the joy of sports with all children.

Children of all abilities take part, and they all benefit.

HOW IT WORKS

The eight-week program provides a set of lessons through games and activities that focus on developing fitness, strength, body awareness, spatial concepts, adaptive skills (following directions, imitating motor movements), hand-eye coordination and visual tracking skills. In the process, the children become familiar with the Young Athletes equipment and routines. By the end of the program, the lessons provide athletes the chance to apply the skills developed to sports games.

For more information about our Young Athletes Program, download our guide:

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