A Michigan school district is trying something new (?) to increase the mental abilities of elementary school students. The district has created a “sensory path” in one of the hallways in the school building to give the students a “brain break” from their classroom work.

The sensory path was created by the school district’s occupational therapist and its speech-language pathologist to “help students get out of their seats and stay active during the school day.” Students can jump hopscotch boards, use their hands or feet to follow spots on the floor (aka “Twister”?), follow circles on the wall, or do wall push-ups along the sensory path. The sensory path is based on results of studies indicating that movement increases blood flow and heart rate, which increases mental ability. (That’s news?)

Back in the day when I was in elementary school and roller-skated about 300 feet uphill to school on nice days, the school day ran from about 9:00 a.m. until about 4:00 p.m. (It was a long time ago. I don’t remember the exact times.) There were about 50-60 students in the eight grades in the building, and we arrived 15-20 minutes before school started so we could play with our friends outside until the bell rang. We had a 30-minute morning recess and a 30-minute afternoon recess, during which we were required to go outdoors all year unless it was raining or extremely cold (on a scale of Wisconsin winter weather).

During our 60-minute lunch period, some kids went home for lunch (less than a 5-minute bike ride) and others ate their lunches in the classroom. We ate quickly, because we wanted to be included in the outdoor games that filled the rest of the lunch hour. The games were kid-organized, not teacher-directed, so they were what we wanted to do. By the time recess and lunch were over, we were more than ready to sit in our seats and rest while we studied. Our blood was flowing nicely, and our hearts were beating quickly enough to make us sweaty.

We didn’t have a sensory path in our school, but I’ll bet we had good brain stimulation and a lot more fun playing outside with our friends for two hours every day.