After looking into the costs of preschool for our kids, we determined that we could not afford it and so I have started a home preschool. We have had the benefit of Early Intervention services since they were six months old. As a result, we have had many obstacle courses set up in our house. I learned a lot from our therapists and can now come up with my own courses. I have also been taking preschool educators’ courses (and have already taken lots of child development classes in my path to become a psychologist).
Our kids are learning the alphabet and letter sounds and I thought combining an obstacle course, which increases memory and problem solving skills, with letter sound and recognition practice would be a lot of fun. They all enjoyed it and were able to remember a long sequence which you will see pictured in the video. The great thing about this kind of activity is it can be adapted using whatever you have on hand, indoors or out. It can also be changed to suit your preschooler’s or toddler’s developmental level.
The steps to our Alphabet Obstacle Course were:
- Run and get the ball (which was balancing on top of a shape sorter).
- Roll the ball down the slide and through the tunnel.
- Slide down the slide on your stomach and crawl through the tunnel.
- Find the ball and put it back on top of the shape sorter.
- Go to the magnet board/oil pan and pick out a letter.
- Announce the name of the letter, the sound it makes and one or two words that begin with that letter.
- Run across the room and place the letter on the magnet board/oil pan on the other side of the room.
It is exciting to see them learn and progress. What alphabet activities have you done with your toddlers or preschoolers? I would love to hear from you. I enjoy reading each comment.
jmommymom says
I love the way your idea combines movement and memory. I imagine just remembering all the steps in the obstacle course is a big challenge.
Theresa says
Thank you jmommymom.
Yes, just remembering the steps is a challenge by itself. You can see the concentration on Ryder's face in the video as the remembers the sequence. I think picking a letter, naming the sound and one or two words that start with the letter seems different than a rote exercise when it is presented in an obstacle course format.
: 0 ) Theresa