Teachers find road to learning outside class
Sensory path allows kids to reduce stress
A hopscotch board, Lego wall and leapfrog footprints greeted students in Mars Area Elementary School this year.
Over the summer, fourth grade teachers Jamie Waters, Stephanie Graff and Chris Petrini installed items on the walls and floor to create a “sensory path” in one of the school’s hallways.
Mrs. Waters came up with the idea after talking with someone in the corporate world who uses ellipticals and yoga balls at work to reduce stress. She began researching a low-cost solution for her students.
She came upon information for sensory paths online and worked with her two colleagues to print out, laminate and install the components of the path over the summer.
A sensory path is a playful footpath that children follow through several exercises that help to stimulate the senses, Mrs. Waters said.
“With increased stimulation of senses, connections in the brain are enabled which can increase cognitive function in the classroom. In addition to increasing cognitive function, children can practice motor skills or simply partake in the five minute brain break needed by all during the day despite age or needs,” she said in an email.
The floor has regular footprints, animal tracks, planets, crab walk, a hopscotch board, and alternating decals of a frog and the log that the students hop over as the frog.
One of the walls has a mirror. Another has a Lego board with bricks, and a third has magnetic letters. There also is a spot where students can do push-ups against the wall.
As an added benefit, the teachers say the path provides some much-needed relief from the more structured classroom. Ms. Waters compared it to a child hitting the reset button in order to regain their focus.
“Sometimes, the kids say, ‘Hey, I need a little break,’ so they go out into the hallway and hop around,” Mrs. Graff said.
Special education teachers who do occupational therapy with students also are excited about the sensory path, Mrs. Petrini said. “They need brain breaks, just like everybody else.”
Sometimes, students “just need to get the wiggles out of
them,” Mr. Lape said.
“It’s kind of a temporary thing right now, but [we’re] looking to make it a more permanent solution,” Mrs. Waters said.
In recent remarks before the school board, Principal Todd Lape praised the teachers for coming up with the idea and incorporating it into the school day.
“These ladies think out of the box constantly of things that I would never think of or even dream of,” Mr. Lape told the school board.
Mr. Lape said the decals are holding up pretty well with all the use they are getting, but he is worried about the effect of rock salt on them in the winter. The custodians have talked about stripping the wax from the areas, re-installing the decals, then waxing over them for better preservation.
Sensory hallways are not a new idea. Some Seneca Valley schools have them, Mrs. Petrini said. Mr. Lape said they also are big in Canada, where students are encouraged to not “walk” in the halls, but to hop down them.