Parkersburg area families participate in Summer Games

For two days a week this summer, children who receive rehabilitation therapies through Easterseals took part in a variety of interactive skill-building activities during Summer Games 2025 at Civitan Park.

Sixteen children, along with their siblings and parents, were invited to play lawn games, create sidewalk-chalk masterpieces, navigate obstacle courses and much more, led by Easterseals occupational therapist Mary Lee Kelly and physical therapist Shawn Jones. Summer Games 2025 replaced the Ride With Pride hippotherapy (horse therapy) program that formerly took place in Guysville.

“We saw notable progress with Ride With Pride participants, but drawbacks included limited opportunities for siblings to participate and inability for families to carry over therapeutic strategies at home, as most don’t own horses,” Kelly said.

With the Summer Games, the location was more central, siblings were able to participate alongside each other, and there was plenty of shade, play surfaces, and bathrooms with running water. 

“Participants had an opportunity to enjoy a wide variety of summer play activities that encouraged being outdoors and off technology devices. We offered structured games, such as board games and sports. Much of the focus, however, was on ‘creating’ play using whatever materials were available, such as building with yogurt cups, designing obstacle courses and playing movement/memory games using pool noodles,” Kelly said.

“Bryce had a blast playing in the park with Shawn and Mary Lee,” Casey Morehead of Parkersburg said of her 6-year-old son who has Angelman Syndrome. “They made therapy fun for him while working on his fine and gross motor skills. We appreciate all they do each summer for children with disabilities.”

The 16 participants are from throughout the Mid-Ohio Valley and all had received occupational or physical therapy from Jones or Kelly through school or West Virginia Birth to Three.

The program, which started June 2 and ended in mid-July, was funded by a grant from the Donald Morris Charitable Trust, which also had funded Ride With Pride for many years.

Kelly said the grant also provided money for children to choose games to take home with them. She said they plan to offer the Summer Games again next year.

“We believe we succeeded in creating a program that helped children develop a more broad set of play skills that includes full family participation,” Jones said.

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