Our Special Village

Resource Library/After School & Extracurriculars

After school & extracurriculars

Therapy is not a childhood. Kids need a team, a stage, a pool, a Saturday thing they’re known for — and so do you, honestly. Here’s what exists in Murfreesboro and surrounding areas, with the ages and prices each program publishes.

●Last reviewed August 2026 · details change — confirm with official sources

How to ask any program about accommodations

Most of what your kid might love isn’t labeled “adaptive.” The regular soccer league, the church art class, the karate dojo down the road — a lot of them can work, and some of them are wonderful. You just have to make one phone call first, and the call has a script.

  1. Call, don’t email

    You are not gathering information — you’re gathering tone. An email gives them time to compose a polished answer. A phone call tells you what they actually think.

  2. Describe your child factually, not apologetically

    “My son is 9 and autistic. He communicates with a device, he needs movement breaks about every 20 minutes, and loud whistles are really hard for him. He loves being around other kids.” No apology, no sales pitch, no diagnosis debate — just the operating manual.

  3. Ask the one question

    “What would inclusion look like here?” Then stop talking. Let the silence do its job.

  4. Listen to the reaction — it is the answer

    A good program gets curious: “Tell me more about the movement breaks. Would it help if he had the same coach each week?” A bad fit gets defensive, goes vague (“we treat everyone the same!”), or immediately talks about liability. Neither is a fight you have to win — it’s just information, delivered fast and free.

  5. Ask two follow-ups before you sign up

    “Can we come watch a session first?” and “Can I stay nearby the first few times?” Programs that say yes to both are usually the ones that work out.

Music

An honest gap

We could not verify a single adaptive or inclusive music program based in Murfreesboro. If your child takes lessons here from a teacher who genuinely gets it, that’s the referral half this town is looking for — please tell us and we’ll list them.

Sports

  • Advantage Sports & Special Olympics (City of Murfreesboro Parks & Rec) — basketball, soccer, flag football, swimming, track and field, and adaptive fitness, for youth and adults. 615-907-2251.
  • Miracle League of Murfreesboro — adaptive baseball on a rubberized field with a volunteer buddy for every player, ages 4–53. Fall 2026 dates were listed as coming soon at last check.
  • Kings Hammer Murfreesboro TOPSoccer — free adaptive soccer with 12 certified coaches. Ages aren’t published; email bsmith@kingshammer.com to confirm the current age range and season.
  • Nashville Dolphins — free adaptive swim from Little Phins (ages 0–3) up to a competitive Special Olympics team for ages 8+. 615-866-9971.
  • Beyond Aquatics (Murfreesboro) — one-on-one swim instruction in a warm therapy pool, ages 3 months through adults. (615) 962-9500.

Dance

  • MOVE Inclusive Dance (Franklin) — small adaptive classes averaging about five students, with dance buddies alongside, including a class specifically for wheelchair users. Call (615) 582-4993 to confirm ages and openings.

Gymnastics

  • Flip for Function (Brentwood) — occupational-therapy-integrated adaptive and inclusive gymnastics from infancy through age 18. Published rates: one-on-one $240–375/month, groups $150/month. (615) 490-4110.
  • KIDtastic at Harpeth Gymnastics (Franklin) — OT-led adaptive classes. Published rates: $50/year registration, $32 per child for groups, $70–135 for privates. (615) 708-9584.

An honest gap

There is no adaptive gymnastics program we could verify inside Murfreesboro or Smyrna — the nearest are the two Franklin and Brentwood gyms above. ETC Gymnastics, which has Murfreesboro and Smyrna locations, doesn’t publish an adaptive program, but nothing stops you from calling and asking the questions at the top of this page. If they say yes, tell us and we’ll shout about it.

Art, theater & social

  • Little Blue Theatre (Nashville, serving Middle Tennessee) — inclusive theatre ensembles by age band: 0–6, 8–12, and 13–18. Every performance is sensory-friendly. 615-601-1871.
  • All At The Table (Murfreesboro) — therapeutic tabletop role-playing for ages 12–17, run by two licensed therapists. Nine-week closed groups, Tuesdays 5:30–7 PM during the school year. (615) 205-6506.
  • We Rock the Spectrum — sensory gym open play daily, built for all abilities, and home of our Wednesday group. The cheapest “activity” on this page and often the easiest first yes.

Camps & school breaks

  • Camp Discovery (Gainesboro, run by the TN Jaycee Foundation) — residential camp with age brackets from 4 to 64 and roughly one counselor per three campers. Six sessions ran June 7–July 24 in 2026; watch for next year’s dates. 615-504-1727.
  • Camp Ability (Special Kids, Murfreesboro, hosted at North Boulevard Church of Christ) — Christian day camp for ages 6–25, running June through July. The one that doesn’t require a drive. (615) 809-2632.
  • Easterseals Tennessee — day camp and resident camp for school-age campers (call for this year’s exact age bands), plus an Adult Recreational Camp for ages 17 and up. 615-292-6640.

Registration for the good camps opens earlier than feels reasonable — often in winter for summer. Put a reminder in your phone now; the weekly newsletter flags the windows as they open.

After-school care

  • YMCA Full Circle — the YMCA’s special-needs and diverse-abilities programming, including after-school options and, for older kids, High School Hangout (ages 16–21) and an Adult Day Program (22+). Availability differs by branch — call to confirm what runs near Murfreesboro.
  • We Rock the Spectrum — call to confirm current after-school care and class offerings, which change by season.

Found something great? Hit a wall?

This page is only as good as the village makes it — every gap above is an open invitation. Send us the program your kid loves, or the one that turned you away, and we’ll dig. More options live in the Provider Directory, teen-specific programs are collected on our older kids & teens page, and signups and one-off events go out every week in the newsletter.