How To Become An Activity Therapist: What It Is and Career Path

What is an activity therapist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

An Activity Therapist needs to have communication, leadership, and coordinating skills. Most Activity Therapists work in the health care, non-profit, and city government industries. You will be required to plan, direct, and coordinate medically-approved recreation programs for patients in nursing homes, hospitals, or skilled care homes. You will need to coordinate sports, trips, drama, social activities, as well as arts and crafts. You may need to assess a patient's condition to do activities and recommend the appropriate recreational activity.

An Activity Therapist will also perform administrative activities like maintaining files and processing paperwork. You will need to keep equipment in good repair as well as controlling resources. You will need to be a leader of volunteers or staff members who assist in activities. You will need at least a bachelor's degree or extensive social work experience, sports management, and be an intern as a recreation therapist or volunteer. You can make an average yearly salary of $42,000.

ScoreActivity TherapistUS Average

Salary

4.2

Avg. Salary $54,001

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

8.6

Growth Rate 4%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.77%

Asian 3.27%

Black or African American 6.53%

Hispanic or Latino 10.21%

Unknown 4.49%

White 74.73%

Gender

female 74.19%

male 25.81%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress Level

8.6

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

7.8

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

7.9

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

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Key steps to become an activity therapist

Explore activity therapist education requirements

Most common activity therapist degrees

Bachelor's

71.4 %

Master's

14.1 %

Associate

9.8 %

Start to develop specific activity therapist skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	29.32%
Mental Health	11.00%
Rehabilitation	8.10%
Treatment Programs	6.57%
CPR	6.00%

Complete relevant activity therapist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New activity therapists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an activity therapist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real activity therapist resumes.

Research activity therapist duties and responsibilities

Manage ventilator care, intubation, arterial line placement, mechanical ventilation, BIPAP, and CPAP.
Organize and participate in treatment programs and activities that facilitate clients' rehabilitation to help integrate back into the community.
Work with rehabilitation service's program coordinator to plan treatment programs that facilitate clients' rehabilitation through social and environmental interventions.
Show love and compassion, always in a happy mood.

Prepare your activity therapist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your activity therapist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an activity therapist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Activity Therapist Resume templates

Build a professional Activity Therapist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Activity Therapist resume.

Apply for activity therapist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an activity therapist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do activity therapists rate their job?

-/5

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Activity Therapist reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2024

Pros

I get to meet new people and help the ones in need

Cons

I'm a cult leader but it's not what you think it's good not bad I don't sacrifice people or anything