Teaching Over, Under, Around, and Through

teach spatial concepts over under around and through with play

Let’s cover a few different directional concepts; This over, under, around, and through activity for preschool is a spatial relations concept. These positional concepts are an important part of preschool development.

Teaching Directional Concepts: Over, Under, Around, and Through

 


Learning Spatial Concepts during play

One rainy pre-Halloween day, I had an idea to bring a pumpkin into our play.  We were going to play a game teaching Spatial Concepts.

Teaching Spatial Concepts to Preschoolers and Toddlers through play. Over, under, around, and through and their need in functional tasks like shoe tying and handwriting.
 
What are spatial concepts??  
 
It’s those direction/spatial relationship/preposition words that tell you where something is related to something else… you know… beside, in front of, behind, over, under, around,  through, last, etc. 

 


These are great concepts to teach to preschoolers. 

Positional concepts are especially important in pre-handwriting.  Once they begin handwriting, kids are taught line awareness, placement of letters on the top/middle/bottom lines, how to move over a space between words, how the “y” has a tail that hangs below the bottom line…So many times, a messy hand-writer is showing problems with spatial organization and concepts.

Spatial concepts and directional terms are also important in teaching shoe tying…BIG need for understanding “AROUND the loop”, “push the lace THROUGH with your thumb”)…
 
They can begin learning these concepts by discovering where their bodies are in relationship to objects.  
 
We pulled the couch cushions off of the couches and set up tunnels, bridges (cushion over a blanket…use that imagination!), and obstacles.
 
My kids love the couch cushions…There are definitely days that we use the couch cushions more on the floor than we do actually on the couches.
 
I started singing to them, “Where is pumpkin? Where is pumpkin? Here I am, THROUGH the tunnel!” to the tune of Where is Thumbkin, and changing the last line depending on where the pumpkin was that time.
 

Teaching Over, Under, Around, and Through

Preschool children will love to learn and play with spatial concepts over, under, around, and through with this pretend play activity.
 
You totally don’t need to use a pumpkin for this…you could use a stuffed animal, action figure, apple…whatever would spark your child’s interest!
 
 
We changed it up after a bit.  And for something different, I would tell them to first go over the bridge, then go around the cushion wall, then go through the tunnel.  
 
They loved going over, under, around, and through obstacles to get to where the pumpkin was.  And then making up their own sequence to get to the pumpkin.  
 
 
 
Baby Girl just enjoyed going over cushions.
 

 

Pretend Play with Spatial Concepts

Big Sister and Little Guy decided to change the game into a pumpkin patch, complete with a cushion “tractor” to take them to the pumpkin patch and some stuffed animal “kids” to join them.  
 
 
The stuffed kids got to ride the tractor…
 
 
And go into the pumpkin patch.
 
 
And pay for their pumpkins with “coins”.
 
 
Real-world application of the spatial concepts we learned???
 
“Cuddles the Bear gets to go in the pumpkin patch in front of Puppy, because she is pink, and that’s good manners”.
 
Ok, then. 
 

More Preschool Spatial Learning Activities


Want to continue the spatial concept learning with your preschooler?  

  • Add music…Sing and act out “Over the river and through the woods”, “Going on a bear hunt”, and “The bear went over the mountain”.
  • Grab a basket or container of any kind. Toddlers love putting things “in”/taking them “out”.  Add more complexity for bigger kids by adding multi-step directions. “Take 5 steps forward, go under the chair, then crawl around the blanket”.
  • Make a backyard map to work on directional concepts.
  • Play “I Spy” by looking around the room and finding 3 things that are under something, or 3 things that are behind something.
  • Pencil control worksheets you can make at home
  • We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
 

Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.

Slow Cooker Country Style Ribs

Slow cooker country style ribs dry rub recipe

This is another simple recipe  that is kid-friendly and husband-friendly. The slow cooker country style ribs dry rub is one that my kids love…It’s a family favorite recipe! Country style ribs in the crockpot are great for busy families like ours. Your family will love this slow cooker recipe!   I went on a search to find the best slow cooker ribs I could find and came across this recipe.  Looked simple enough.  I have made ribs before in the slow cooker that just fell off the bone in the crock-pot, I didn’t really want that. I was looking for something that held the meat together even after cooking all day.  I must say that this recipe did a pretty good job!  

Slow cooker country style ribs dry rub recipe
 
Crock pot country style ribs recipe
 

Juicy Crock Pot Ribs Recipe

This post contains affiliate links.
 
SLow cooker country style ribs dinner
 
RELATED READ: Fruit Pizza Recipe
 
Country style crock pot ribs recipe

 

Country-Style Crock Pot Ribs Recipe

I had to make a few substitutions in our crockpot ribs dry rub recipe, because I was missing a few ingredients. This is what I came up with…

 

 
Ingredients for country style ribs recipe
Ingredients:

4lb pork country style ribs
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder with parsley flakes
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1tsp thyme, crushed
1 cup barbecue sauce
 
 
 
 

Ingredients for slow cooker country style ribs recipe

Mix up all the dry ingredients and rub on the ribs.

 

Homemade rub recipe for country style crock pot ribs
 
Spray the Crock-Pot with non-stick cooking spray…be very generous, you don’t want these to stick!
 
This is our favorite slow cooker for cooking recipes like crockpot mac and cheese and hidden veggie crock pot marinara, which are both recipes that kids love and are quick and easy in the slow cooker…bonus for busy moms!
These slow cooker country style ribs are soft and delicious, perfect to throw in the crock pot in the morning.
 
Stack the ribs vertically, cover and cook on low for 6-8 hrs.
Uncover, and pour your favorite sauce all over the ribs…there will be juices on the bottom of the slow cooker, its’ ok if the barbecue sauce gets mixed in. Cover again and cook on high for about 30 min.
 
 
Country Style Slow Cooker CrockPot ribs recipe
 
 My daughter told me I was the “best cooker in the whole world”…couldn’t ask for a nicer compliment!!!
 
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