Homemade Ball Maze Game

Hi! It's Scott from Brick by Brick. I love to repurpose materials—use materials in ways different from their intended use.

Recently we made some ball maze games for our preschoolers to use. These games are great for developing hand-eye coordination and for helping kids gain more control over their movements. Plus they are just fun to use!

What you need: cardboard tubes, plastic trays or shallow boxes, tape, large marbles or small balls

Cut your cardboard tubes to shorter lengths. Tape the tubes to the tray, leaving space between the tubes for the ball to roll. We used clear tape and taped through the tubes. You could also tape over the tubes with decorative tape or clear tape.

Kids can hold the sides of the tray and move it around to make the ball roll, trying to get the ball to roll through the tubes.

If you use larger trays/boxes and tubes, you can create a game that kids can use with partners. Add table tennis balls instead of small balls to this larger game.

If you want to add more elements to your game, print letters or numbers on the tubes. Challenge kids to roll through specific tubes. If you are using numbers on the tubes, roll a numbered cube and then try to get the ball through that numeral tube and not through in other tubes.

Adjust the game to fit whatever you want to emphasize. Or keep the game as a motor development activity. Since we had a space theme for these activities, we used balls that looked like planets and called them orbit trays. And our fun was out of this world! (Sorry I couldn't resist.)

Obstacle Course Adventure!

The Rainbow Hoop

Weather getting a little snarky? Need a great gross-motor activity for indoors (or outdoors)?  I’m Miss Carole of MacaroniSoup and I’ve got just the thing:  an OBSTACLE COURSE, of course!  Yes, I’ve written about this before – you can check out my original blog about it here – but it deserves a reminder, and here it is!

I started creating obstacle courses for my own kids (who are now twenty-somethings) to while away cold and snowy winter days here in Chicago.  As they got older, they helped create the obstacles – often creating elaborate chair/blanket contraptions or up-the-stairs-down-the-stairs segments.  In the summertime, the back yard was perfect.  I remember my daughter including the kiddie pool – you had to catch a fish with a string attached to a stick with a paperclip “hook”.  It took her almost an hour to create her course – a great exercise in planning – then she invited neighborhood kids to come run it!  I might add that it often included the sprinkler as an obstacle.  Unfortunately I have no pictures of those courses.  Before digital photography, but I sure remember them in my brain!

Creating your course:

1.  Assess your space.  How many “obstacles” can you safely accommodate?  Be creative – I have 2 doors to my music room and an extra teacher, so I was able to extend the course into the hallway. Thanks, Mrs. Desent at St David's Nursery School!

2.  Create obstacles that extend physical and brain development.  Use chairs, tables, blocks – whatever you have handy.  If going outdoors, incorporate natural or stationary obstacles – trees, climbing equipment, etc.

3.  Find fun, exciting instrumental music to accompany your course – about 4-5 minutes is perfect.

Weave the Trees

Now you’re ready to start.  I ask the kids to sit in the middle of the rug, while I set out the course around them.  As I place each obstacle, I name it (Bat Cave, Balance Beam, etc) and then invite one child to demonstrate how to do that task.

Once the course is set, I assign small groups of children to stand at each station.  This helps avoid a back-up line of children waiting for an obstacle.  

Music on – BEGIN!

My November Obstacle Course included:

Under the Bat Cave

“The Rainbow” hoop – some scarves attached to a hula hoop – they duck and go through it.

“Weave the Trees” – out to the hallway to go in-and-out the blocks.  This took several attempts for some of my students to successfully navigate the weaving pattern.

“The Bat Cave” – I tossed a black blanket over a small table, placed a plastic bat atop it and the children crawled under it. Crawling involves using oppositional movement – great for the brain.

The Red River of Fire

“The River of Fire” – a red towel – oooh, scary!  Not!  But barrel-rolling is a great skill for pre-readers.  It involves the complete rotation of the body on the floor.  This takes practice – 4’s and 5’s may still struggle with it. But you can encourage Vestibular Development which is necessary for balance and Gross Motor Development to build strength and coordination.  For a comprehensive list of barrel-rolling benefits try Moving Smart’s article: Smart Steps: Let’Em Roll!

Bridge Over Troubled Waters

“Bridge Over Troubled Waters” – (ha ha – a shout-out to my youth!) – I have a homemade balance beam, but you can put a tapeline on the floor, or make funfoam “stepping stones” to tape to the floor.

    Our music was the theme from "Ghostbusters!"

It’s not a race! When we’re ready to start, I don’t say “GO!” 

I say “BEGIN!”  

There are 2 simple rules:

1. One person on an obstacle at a time. (except the weaving)

2. Do not push or pass the person in front of you.

    Now you’re ready!  Tell me what you’ve created for obstacles – I’m always looking for new ones!

 

    AND – if you are coming to the NAEYC Conference in Orlando. Please come say hello at my Exhibit Booth #244, or at my workshop Friday at 1:00 – “Active Music for Active Learners!” on page 137 of the NAEYC program book.  Let’s get moving together!

Yours for a Song!

“Miss Carole” Stephens

Macaroni Soup! Active Music forActive Learners

Park Ridge, Illinois

Motor Skill Activities for Children

Hi! I'm Carolyn Kisloski from Kindergarten: Holding Hands and Sticking Together.  For many people, this is the beginning of a new school year.  I thought it would be a good time to share some of my favorite motor skill activities for children.

Pre-writing exercises not only help children warm up their fine motor muscles, but also help them to focus on using them the best they can. Here are some fun warm up activities that don't take long, but help children transition into an activity using fine motor skills, like Writer's Workshop.

1.  Windshield Wipers- Children hold their hands above their head and cross straight arms 10 times.  Then, they place the bottom hand over the top hand, and repeat.

2.  Door Knob Turns-  Children pretend to turn door knobs with arms straight out in front of them and rotate toward the midline for 10 repetitions.

3.  Rainbows-  Have children hold their elbows with opposite hands.  They lift their elbows overhead in a single motion and return to their waist. Repeat 10 times.

4.  Mickey Mouse Ears-  Children put their fists by their ears, open hands, and close tightly.  Repeat 10 times.

5.  Desk Push-Ups- Children put hands flat on desks, with thumb and index fingers forming a triangle. They bend their elbows, put their nose into the triangle, then straighten their arms.  Repeat 10 times.

Coloring and writing use fine motor muscles, but aren't best for developing these muscles and making them strong.  Young children need lots of opportunities to develop these muscles so they don't get tired or frustrated completing activities that use these little muscles. It's just like any muscle that you need to strengthen so you can use it confidently and with best control. Children want to do their best work, enjoy it, and  feel proud of it. They don't want to feel clumsy and do sloppy work. Lots of opportunities to develop fine motor skills, both at home and at school,  are important for young children.

I made a paper that I send home to parents with some ideas that they can use at home to work on developing fine motor skills.  Lots of times parents want to help, but aren't sure what activities would be best.  Click HERE if you would like a copy.

We had a very informative class  with our OT, discussing the book Teaching the Moving Child by Sybil M. Berkey.

She shared some great ideas for fine and gross motor activities for children.

1. Use golf pencils or broken crayons to help children use correct finger grip.

Broken crayons kind of make me cringe.  I could have named my blog "Sharp Pencils and Brand New Crayons,"  because those are two things I LOVE.  OK- even more honestly, it could have been named "Sharp Ticonderoga Pencils and Brand New Crayola Crayons." But that would never fit on a button.

However, cringing aside,  I do see the benefit of using these smaller writing tools for children who need help or reminders using the correct grip.  If a crayon or pencil is small, children can't get all of their fingers around it, and therefore are "forced" to use a correct grip.  This is an especially good tip to remember at the beginning of the year.

I didn't have too many golf pencils, but that wasn't a problem by the end of summer- because this is my husband and son on a typical weekend!

2.  Have children write in a prone position (lying on the floor with a clipboard) or standing and writing on a wall space to put their wrists in proper position.
















I tried this one and you can see it does position the child's arm and wrist correctly.  I did have a couple children who have "floppy wrists" or who bent their wrists around when they wrote.  Lying on the floor made them rest on their forearm and keep their wrist in the right position.  This isn't practical all the time, but I could definitely have them do this more during center times or certain writing times.  I didn't like the wall writing as much probably because I don't have much wall space and the paper has to be at the perfect height for them so they aren't reaching up  or stooping down, which defeats the purpose.


3. Have over-active children do "chair push-ups" or push against a wall to remain calm and more focused.

   

We do like a good "Chair Push-Up" break now and then!  My whole class does this together. I always have a couple children who benefit from this the most, but it is fun and helpful for everyone- as well as a challenge! They love to see who can stay up for a long time. 

We have a ball with the Wall Push.   I don't have much wall space, but we all line up quietly and walk around the corner in our hall, where there are no classrooms.  We try to push the wall as hard as we can.  I tell them we are trying to make Miss Quick's classroom smaller by pushing in the wall!   They really think we have moved that concrete wall over.  Sorry, Miss Quick, for your shrinking room!

These activities are also great for developing some shoulder strength.

Again,  this is a great brain break for everyone in the class!  Who doesn't feel like pushing a wall every now and then? One good thing about doing this in the hall is that I tell them we have push really hard, but be quiet, so they aren't screaming- but putting the effort into the physical exertion.

Mean Soup is a fun book to read before you practice some gross motor exercises- and if your class is ever in a sort of picky mood.



The story is about a boy who had a very frustrating day. His mother suggests that they make soup together, which he does not want to do at first.  She boils water on the stove, adds a little salt,  and screams into the water.  Then, she has him do it. They both scream louder into the "soup" until they feel better.  After that, the mother decides they should stick their tongues out twenty times into the soup- which, we, of course, did as well. (I actually made tally marks each time we stuck out our tongues-  MATH!)  What a fun idea to get out some frustration! We also took out our frustrations on the wall.  Again, sorry, Miss Quick- we are SURE your room is at least a foot smaller by now. 

                                        

It's such a fun way to teach children a safe, productive way to relieve stress.

  

Other good suggestions for an overly-active child were to have him/her do more physical jobs for you in the classroom, like wipe down tables, push in chairs, or carry heavy objects (like a small stack of books) for you in the hallway.  Kids love to be helpers, and this is a way for a child to be a helper and have some physical stimulation. 

(ok... maybe just a small stack!)

 

Go Noodle is FULL of great brain breaks and activities for getting children moving.  It has everything from Zumba to Yoga.  If you haven't used it yet, you and your kids will love it. It's free! Go check it out! I posted about it HERE.

I hope you found some new activities to use in your classroom! Thank you for stopping by! I'd love you to visit me at my blog, Kindergarten: Holding Hands and Sticking Together. 

Have a wonderful school year!