Wearing SPD Lenses: What to Do with a Concrete Wall

A hot day.  A concrete wall.  Kids that need some focus, but also some fun…  What to do?  Grab you SPD lenses and see the possibilities.  Just what fun can that concrete wall provide?

Original Purpose: supporting the house

With SPD Lenses:  Gross Motor, Proprioceptive, Tactile Fun

Water Painting:  Get a big bucket, a dishwashing tub, or – in our case – handy green sandbox.  Fill it with cold, cold water (both to cool off from the hot, hot day and to provide some tactile input between the cold water splashes and drips and the steamy air. )  Coral an old  paint roller or two (or paint brush, or anything that will work.  Be creative.  That brush for getting snow off your windshield isn’t getting a lot of use right now…)  And, enjoy “painting” the wall with water.  All the bending and stretching to apply the water "paint" makes for some great gross motor and proprioceptive work.  Watching the wall change colors as it is “painted” provides interest for the kiddoes.

OR

With SPD Lenses: Gross Motor, Fine Motor, Proprioceptive and Tactile Fun

Wet Erase Chalkboard:  Before painting as above, grab some chalk.  With the kids, come up with a theme.  (We chose a dinosaur world and, later, an underwater scene.)  Outline some main parts and challenge the kiddos to fill in the details.  Or, simply create a big mural together.  The more you get the kids to add to it, the more fine motor exercise you’ll encourage.  And, if you challenge the kids to make any circular portions in the drawing counter-clockwise, you’ll be ensuring some great prep and practice for handwriting.  (Many letters are formed with counter-clockwise loopy strokes.)  Speaking of writing, remember literacy can be for concrete walls, not just for books and paper, so go ahead an label the drawing  Then, when everyone is ready to stop admiring the beautiful chalk handiwork, get out those brushes again (or rags or sponges) and use them as erasers.   If your wall is anything like ours, the rough surface will require extra-hard work to erase.  Some extra water.  Some extra pressure.  Some extra strokes.  All great gross motor and proprioceptive work.  And, all a part of the fun.

Finally, keep those SPD lenses on as you look around your yard.  What other fun sensory experiences can you concoct?  How can your lenses help you (and your kids) be thankful for the heat, the "stuff" you have about, the creativity God has given you?


Please share your own ideas for seeing concrete walls through SPD lenses and other outdoor sensory fun.  And, be sure to stop by the Thankful Thursday links at Spiritually Unequal Marriage to be inspired what others are thankful for today.