Here is a simple game I did a few weeks ago. It can be modified in a million ways!
Props:
- 3 upright or T poles in triangle
- 4 tall cones in square
- 8 small cones in circle
- 4 cards depicting the shapes to be made around the items
Arena setup should be as follows, with spacing to fit the 4 shapes: square, circle, triangle, and figure 8
I made the cards below. You can download the pdf here.
Activity:
- Whoa facing the props.
- Explain we are going to ride the shapes to work on _______________ (whoa, steering, precision steering, looking through turns, bending, etc.)
- Hold up the cards and let them pick one.
- Work on reading, identifying the shape, identifying where the shape’s props are, etc.
- Ride!
- Repeat!
- Progression can include riding without a leader, less verbal prompts, riding all the shapes in a particular order, etc.
This was simple but fun. My riders of all ages caught on quickly and seemed to enjoy it. It was really handy for asking them to look for their next object, point their horse’s nose toward it, and ignore all the others.
Enjoy!
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Note: This is not professional advice, this is a blog. I am not liable for what you do with or how you use this information. The activities explained in this blog may not be fit for every rider, riding instructor, or riding center depending on their current condition and resources. Use your best personal judgement!
When I use shapes like this game I have the riders clothespin clip the cards or weighted beanbag shapes to the mane to add manipulation skill. For riders with spatial awareness deficits I add a fine trail of sawdust to outline the shape.
I really like your shapes pattern, and I was wondering what program you used to actually make the patterns with the correct prop shapes? We are trying to do that for our progress note lesson plans. Thanks
Cynthia, I draw the images in paintbrush and then paste them into textboxes in Word. If you go to my matching card games page you can download the Word/docx format. I don’t have anything posted for the paintbrush drawing, but I could make one that people could manipulate easily if there was any interest.
Great idea, thank you! Am going to try it this week in lessons 🙂
Hi!
I love the shapes game. Sometimes I use a white board to draw the shapes, meaning we can get creative and more complicated if needed. Or riding in the shapes of letters to spell out names. Or having the rider draw their own shapes.
Thanks for the blog and ideas. 🙂