Following in the path of little feet

Space Before:

Space After:

 

The preschool had an empty space that I brainstormed for months about developing it into a useful area. The church that the preschool is affiliated with uses a canvas labyrinth during certain seasons of the church year. After googling labyrinths for preschoolers I got that swift heartbeat that told me God had put a desire into my heart. I asked my engineering brother if he could come up with a design that would fit in the spot. His plans were far more ambitious than anything I could have come up with one my own.

One morning in November several members of my family gathered to install the new labyrinth path.
1. Spray paint the labyrinth design path on the ground
2. Set the square boundaries using 2 x 4's
3. Place the bricks lengthwise (for more stability) along the path
4. Fill and pack the sand around the bricks.
The whole process took about 3 hours.

The paths are just wide enough so that the children cannot walk side by side or pass one another. The are forced to follow behind their friends and everyone gets the feeling that they are the leader. If they try to run they quickly lose their balance and revert back to walking. Some kids will continue entering the labyrinth several times while some chose to walk it only once. The path's narrowness requires them to constantly look at their feet, concentrate and focus. They enjoy and invite teachers to follow them and are quite proud of leading them through the "maze".