ADAMS TWP – Mars Elementary School is getting kids to use their heads, shoulders, knees and toes — all while they’re walking down the hallway.

Elementary Principal Todd Lape joined fourth- grade teachers Jamie Waters, Stephanie Graff and Chris Petrini on Tuesday night while they spoke to the school board about their new “sensory path.”

A sensory path uses elements that allow students to burn energy and refocus when they get “fidgety” in class. The elementary path, for example, has spots for kids to hopscotch, build up a community Lego wall, identify animal prints and learn their planets.

“They need brain breaks,” Petrini said.

“Increased academics, increased focus,” Waters said. “We just decided to kind of go for it.”

With stops for yoga and dancing, leapfrog and crab walking, the path also provides inspirational messages. Graff said adults as well as students use it.

“It’s great for everybody,” Graff said.

Waters came across the idea of installing a sensory path this summer.

While commercial sensory path kits cost thousands of dollars, the fourth-grade teachers created elements for the elementary hallway from scratch. Waters generated a list of ideas. Graff and Petrini helped her print, cut and stick them to floors and walls.

The hallway was ready for students when they returned Sept. 9. But going into October, some of the elements are starting to pull off. The teachers asked the board if they would support a long-lasting solution.

“We put a lot of time into this,” Graff said. “We wanted it to be as durable as possible.”

Petrini said the teachers also are looking to expand the path. They’d like to offer students on the first floor of the school a similar experience.

“These ladies think out of the box constantly,” Lape said. “It took a lot of time.”

Board President Dayle Ferguson said installing a “pilot” path this year was a good idea. As the school year progresses, the school may explore different, more-permanent opportunities.