Gene Hurwin, MA, OTR/L

Gene's Regional Congress Sessions

Region 1 - Saturday
11:15am - 12:15pm
San Jose / Santa Clara
Everything Obstacle Course: Why To, How To, and When To
Region 1 Saturday Recreational
Presenter(s): Gene Hurwin, MA, OTR/L
Session Summary

When a child goes to the playground, you may find the same thing happens after only a short time: they wish to make the play more exciting or dangerous. This is because the playground stays the same, and with this sameness comes boredom. In order to prevent this boredom, we at BIG FUN utilize obstacles courses. The objective for the obstacle course is always novelty because novelty demands problem solving, bilateral coordination, upper and lower extremity strength and coordination, and that excitement of not knowing if their approach will work. This activates something called ‘working memory’ – otherwise known as the state of learning how to learn. Learning how to put children into this state of working memory is crucial to building upon their potential ability to learn new and increasingly difficult movements. Attendees will gain a foundational understanding of why we use obstacles courses, how to build an effective obstacle course to reach the state of working memory for their students, and when to implement obstacles courses throughout their classes or sessions.