Create a sensory path to help make homework fun

At school, sensory paths help teachers keep students in line between lessons and promote in-class concentration. Sensory paths can be just as useful at home, especially when it’s time to do homework. More specifically, they offer children an opportunity to do the following:

• Take breaks between tasks
• Release excess energy
• Be rewarded for their efforts
• Remember lessons in a different way when they’re integrated into a path
• Etc.

Your choice of theme is important. The more your sensory path has to do with your child’s interests, the more attractive it will be! In other words, involving your child in the creation process will encourage them to use it. It will also bolster their self-confidence.
Need help choosing a theme? Here are a few ideas:

• Outer space
• Math
• Geometry
• The Olympics
• History
• Animals
• Etc.

Involving your child in their education is a great way to support their academic success. And that’s exactly what you’ll be doing when you invite them to take part in creating their own sensory path. Don’t hesitate to ask your child to choose what elements they’d like to have on their sensory path and how they should be arranged. For example, they could do the following:

• Make handprint cut-outs and glue them to the wall
• Use sticky paper to create a hopscotch game on the floor
• Apply geometric shapes to the floor or walls
• Place objects on the floor (e.g., bowls, cushions)
• Etc.

Being active is great, but it’s even better when the brain gets to work a little too. In addition to asking your child to hop on one foot or place their palms on the handprint cut-outs as quickly as possible, consider giving them a few educational instructions to help them practise what they’re learning in school:

• Place your hands on shapes with an odd number
• Put your knee on the yellow triangle
• Jump with both feet on the first letter of your name
• Go through the path in reverse and count down from ten
• Etc.

Since the same path can be used in different ways, you can draw pictures to help your child remember the courses you’ve come up with. Here are two examples:

Course no. 1

• Jump through the hopscotch grid on one foot.
• Touch the balloon drawings on the wall in the following order: Red, blue, green, green, blue, red, blue, green.

Place your left hand on the number 2 on the hopscotch grid and lift your right leg.
Course no. 2

• Touch all the airplanes on the wall, from smallest to biggest.
• Repeat, but from biggest to smallest.
• Use one foot to hop on the circles and two feet to jump on the squares.
• Crawl from one end of the path to the other while saying the alphabet.

A first grader won’t be able to do the same things as a fourth grader and will certainly have a harder time remembering numerous steps. So, as with all things, you’ll most likely need to adapt your instructions to your child’s age and abilities.