Floor, Wall, or Portable Sensory Path? How to Choose the Right Option for Your School

When schools begin exploring sensory paths, one of the first questions they ask is:

Should we choose a floor path, a wall path, or a portable option?

It is a great question—and there is not one answer that works for every school. The best choice depends on your available space, the ages of your students, how you want the path to be used, and whether you need a permanent or flexible resource.

As a pediatric and school-based occupational therapist, I created Sacred Steps Sensory Paths to give students proactive opportunities to move, regulate, refocus, and return to learning. Each format supports those goals a little differently.

Here is an easy way to determine which sensory path may be the best fit for your school, church, preschool, or therapy space.

Choose a Floor Sensory Path When You Want Movement Built Into the Hallway

A floor sensory path is a wonderful choice when you want movement to become a natural part of the school day. Students can hop, jump, balance, squat, follow footprints, and complete other purposeful movements as they travel through the hallway.

Floor paths work especially well when:

• You have a dedicated hallway or open floor area.

• You want a permanent, highly visible movement resource.

• Multiple classrooms will use the path throughout the day.

• Your students benefit from whole-body movement and heavy-work activities.

• You want movement breaks to be easily available without gathering extra equipment.

Sacred Steps floor decals are commercially printed for heavy daily traffic and can be waxed over as part of your school’s normal floor-care routine. Once installed, the path is ready whenever students need it—during transitions, scheduled sensory breaks, indoor recess, therapy sessions, or those moments when a child simply needs to move before returning to class.

Before choosing a floor path, consider hallway width, doorways, traffic patterns, and custodial routines. A path does not always need to run in one perfectly straight line. Stations can be spaced out, turned, or arranged to work around the features of your building.

Choose a Wall Sensory Path When Floor Space Is Limited

Do you have a narrow hallway, a busy traffic pattern, or floors that are not suitable for decals? A wall path may be the perfect solution.

Wall activities can encourage students to reach, stretch, push, breathe, trace, pray, cross midline, and complete calming or strengthening movements—all without taking up valuable floor space.

Wall paths are a strong choice when:

• Hallways are narrow or need to remain clear.

• You want activities near a classroom, counseling office, prayer space, or sensory area.

• You would like to add regulation supports at different heights.

• You want a quieter movement experience with less jumping or traveling.

• You have a beautiful blank wall just waiting to do something useful!

Wall-based options can also be especially helpful for older students who may prefer activities that feel a little more discreet. Designs such as Who God Says I Am, Days of Creation, and Beatitudes Blessings combine movement and regulation with meaningful faith-based messages.

Sacred Steps wall decals are removable, making them a practical option for many school and church environments.

Choose a Portable Sensory Path When Flexibility Matters Most

Sometimes the best sensory space is wherever your students happen to be that day.

Portable sensory paths are printed on durable 3' x 10' canvas mats. They can be rolled out in a classroom, preschool room, parish center, therapy space, hallway, or counseling area—and then rolled up and stored when the activity is finished.

A portable path may be the best fit when:

• You need to move the resource between classrooms or buildings.

• You rent your space or cannot install permanent decals.

• You want an easy option for special events, faith formation, indoor recess, or sensory-friendly Mass.

• You have limited space and need to store the path between uses.

• You want to begin with a smaller investment before selecting a full permanent path.

Portable paths are also an easy way for teachers to add purposeful movement to the day without rearranging an entire classroom. Roll it out, let students move, and roll it back up—no construction project required!

For smaller preschool and early-childhood spaces, the Little Steps portable paths offer the same grab-and-go flexibility in a compact 24" x 72" size.

Could Your School Use More Than One Format?

Absolutely! Many schools find that a combination works best.

For example, a school might place a full floor path in a main hallway, add calming wall activities near the counselor’s office, and keep a portable path available for classrooms or special events. A Starter Set can also introduce several permanent activities in a smaller area before the school expands to a full path.

Think less about choosing the single “perfect” format and more about where students need support during their day:

• Where do transitions become difficult?

• Where do students wait?

• Where could a child safely take a short movement break?

• Which areas are accessible to the greatest number of students?

• Would a permanent resource be used more consistently, or does your team need flexibility?

Those answers will usually point you toward the best choice.

Are Sensory Paths Difficult to Install?

Most schools install their Sacred Steps Sensory Paths themselves. I provide installation instructions and am available to help with placement and layout before installation begins. Having two or three people makes the process much easier, especially for larger floor pieces.

If your school would prefer installation assistance, travel installation may also be available for an additional fee based on location and travel expenses.

Still Not Sure? Send Me Your Space!

You do not need to have everything figured out before reaching out. In fact, some of my favorite projects have started with a photo of an empty hallway and the question, “What could work here?”

Send me a few pictures, approximate dimensions, the ages of the students you serve, and anything you hope the space will accomplish. I will give you my honest recommendation about whether a floor, wall, portable, or combination option would work best.

Narrow hallway? Awkward corner? Small preschool room? Send it anyway. You may have more possibilities than you think!

Explore Sacred Steps Sensory Paths or contact me to begin planning a path for your space!

First-Day Jitters Are More Than Nerves: Why Sensory Supports Matter From Day One

The first day of school is exciting.

New backpacks. Freshly sharpened pencils. New teachers. Seeing friends again.

But for many students, the first days of school can also feel like a lot.

New classrooms. Different routines. Unfamiliar expectations. Crowded hallways. Bells ringing. Chairs scraping. More sitting. More listening. More transitions. And after a summer with a very different schedule, suddenly being expected to regulate through an entire school day again.

We often call it "first-day jitters."

But sometimes what looks like nervousness, excessive energy, silliness, avoidance, tears, difficulty listening, or even challenging behavior is also a child trying to manage all of the sensory and emotional demands that come with returning to school.

As a school-based occupational therapist, that's why I believe one of the best things we can do at the beginning of the year is simple:

Don't wait for students to struggle before giving them tools to regulate.

The First Day Is a Sensory Experience

Think about walking into school from a child's perspective.

The hallway may be louder than they've experienced all summer.

There are people everywhere.

They're trying to remember where to put their backpack, where to sit, when they're allowed to talk, where they're supposed to walk, what happens next — and perhaps even how to open that brand-new lunch container someone bought them.

For younger students, it may be their first time spending an entire day away from home.

For older students, there may be new classrooms, changing classes, increased academic expectations, new social situations, and less downtime.

And underneath all of that, their bodies are processing an enormous amount of sensory information.

That's a lot of work before the academics even begin.

First-Day Jitters Don't Look the Same in Every Child

The student who is overwhelmed isn't always the child crying at the classroom door.

It might be the child who:

• Can't stop moving in his chair.

• Suddenly needs to sharpen his pencil for the fourth time.

• Becomes extra silly during transitions.

• Covers her ears in a noisy hallway.

• Has difficulty getting started on an assignment.

• Melts down over something seemingly small.

• Asks to go to the bathroom repeatedly.

• Withdraws and becomes unusually quiet.

• Has difficulty keeping hands to himself in line.

• Seems completely fine at school — and falls apart the moment he gets home.

These behaviors don't automatically mean a child has a sensory processing difficulty.

Sometimes they simply mean:

This is a lot for my body right now.

And that's where proactive supports can make such a difference.

What If We Supported Regulation Before the Struggle?

We tend to think about sensory strategies reactively.

A student becomes overwhelmed, so we give them a break.

A child can't sit still, so we send them to move.

A student is upset, so we suggest taking deep breaths.

Those strategies can certainly be helpful.

But what if we shifted the timing?

What if the movement came before the long period of sitting?

What if the calming activity happened before the difficult transition?

What if students learned where and how to reset before they were already dysregulated?

That's the power of being proactive.

Instead of asking only:

"What should we do when this child is struggling?"

We can also ask:

"What can we put in place so this child is less likely to get there?"

Proactive Doesn't Have to Mean Complicated

Supporting sensory and regulation needs doesn't require every school to build a sensory room.

It doesn't have to mean creating an elaborate schedule of sensory breaks.

And it certainly doesn't have to add another complicated program to a teacher's already-full plate.

Sometimes small changes are enough.

A few minutes of movement before morning work.

A calming activity outside the classroom.

A movement station students can use during a hallway transition.

A quiet reset space in the corner of a classroom.

A portable sensory path that can be rolled out when needed and shared between spaces.

A breathing activity before a test.

A whole-class movement break after prolonged sitting.

Start small.

The goal isn't to create more for teachers to manage.

It's to build regulation opportunities into things students are already doing.

Movement Isn't Taking Away From Learning

Especially during the first weeks of school, there can be pressure to establish routines and get students academically engaged as quickly as possible.

But movement doesn't have to compete with learning.

For many students, purposeful movement can help them become more ready for what comes next.

When a child has an appropriate opportunity to move, reset, breathe, push, stretch, march, balance, or simply step away for a moment, we're giving their body another tool for regulation.

And when the body is more regulated, participating in classroom expectations may become easier.

That's why I don't view movement and sensory supports as something separate from the school day.

They're one way we help prepare students for the school day.

Teach the Tools Before They're Needed

The beginning of the year is also the perfect time to introduce sensory and regulation resources.

Don't wait until a student is upset to show them a calming space for the first time.

Don't introduce a sensory path only after someone is having difficulty.

Teach students what the resources are, how to use them, and when they might help.

Let the whole class practice.

Normalize taking a breath.

Normalize movement.

Normalize recognizing when your body needs something.

When these supports are simply part of the school environment, using them doesn't have to feel like a punishment or something reserved for "the kid who is struggling."

It becomes another tool available to students.

A Different Way to Prepare for Day One

We spend so much time preparing our schools for the first day.

Bulletin boards are ready.

Name tags are on desks.

Lesson plans are written.

Supplies are organized.

Hallways look beautiful.

But as you're walking through your school before those doors open, consider adding one more question to your checklist:

Where can our students go — or what can they do — when their bodies need to move, calm, or reset?

You may already have the perfect space.

And it might only take one small addition to make it useful.

Try This Tomorrow

Walk through your students' first day from their perspective.

Where will they wait?

Where will it be loud?

When will they be expected to sit for a longer period?

Which transitions might feel overwhelming?

When will there be lots of directions, people, noise, or stimulation happening at once?

Now choose one of those moments.

Ask yourself:

"What could we put in place five minutes earlier?"

Maybe it's two minutes of movement.

Maybe it's a breathing exercise.

Maybe it's a visual reminder.

Maybe it's a sensory activity students pass on their way back to class.

Start with one proactive support and see what happens.

Because sometimes the best time to help a student regulate is before they need help regulating.

Want to Learn More?

Sacred Steps Sensory Paths were created by a school-based occupational therapist to help schools incorporate purposeful movement and regulation into the spaces and routines they already have.

Schools don't need a sensory room — or even a large hallway — to get started.

You can begin with one individual activity, a calming space, a Starter Set, a portable sensory path, or a full hallway path.

Sacred Steps offers both universal school resources and OT-designed faith-based sensory paths, allowing Catholic and Christian schools to combine purposeful movement and regulation with messages that reinforce their faith throughout the school day.

Products are commercially printed using durable, professional-grade materials designed for school environments, with floor, wall, and portable options available.

Whether you're preparing for the very first day or realizing a few weeks into the year that your students need additional support, you don't have to change everything at once.

Start with one need.
Start with one space.
Start with one purposeful step.

About the Author

Trisha Klausing is a school-based occupational therapist with more than 10 years of experience and the creator of Sacred Steps Sensory Paths. After seeing firsthand how movement and regulation impact students' ability to participate successfully in the school day, she created Sacred Steps to provide schools with purposeful, professionally designed sensory resources — including faith-based options that allow Christian and Catholic schools to support the whole child while reinforcing their faith.

Is Your School Hallway Working Hard Enough?

A 5-Minute Hallway Check From a School-Based Occupational Therapist

When we think about preparing a school environment for students, we tend to focus on classrooms.

We arrange desks. We organize materials. We create calm-down spaces. We think about lighting, seating, visual supports, and classroom routines.

But there's another space students use every single day that we don't always think about in the same way:

The hallway.

As a school-based occupational therapist, I spend a lot of time thinking about how the environment affects a student's ability to regulate, transition, participate, and learn.

And hallways are part of that environment.

Students may walk through them dozens of times each day. They transition from preferred activities to non-preferred activities there. They navigate noise, other students, visual stimulation, schedule changes, and expectations—all while being asked to keep their bodies regulated.

So here's a question worth asking:

Is your hallway simply getting students from Point A to Point B—or could it be doing more?

Take a 5-Minute Walk Through Your School

I created a simple Principal's Hallway Checklist to help school leaders look at their hallways through a slightly different lens.

You don't need a formal assessment.

You don't need an OT walking beside you.

Just take five minutes and walk through your building while thinking about a few key areas.

1. Look at the visual environment.

Stand at one end of your hallway and simply look.

Does the space feel organized—or overwhelming?

Can students easily identify important signs and visual cues?

Are bulletin boards and displays intentional, or is every available inch competing for their attention?

For many students, especially those who are easily distracted or overwhelmed by visual input, more isn't always better.

Sometimes creating a more supportive environment starts with deciding what doesn't need to be there.

2. Look for opportunities to move.

We often treat movement as something that happens at recess, in physical education, or during a designated classroom movement break.

But movement doesn't have to be separate from the school day.

It can be built into it.

Could an unused stretch of hallway give students an opportunity to jump, balance, reach, breathe, cross midline, or complete a quick sequence of purposeful movements?

Could a student use that space for a two-minute regulation break and then return to class?

Could movement be used proactively, rather than waiting until a child is already dysregulated?

That's one of the biggest shifts I encourage schools to consider.

3. Pay attention to transitions.

For some students, transitions are easy.

For others, they're one of the hardest parts of the school day.

Leaving a preferred classroom, navigating a busy hallway, remembering where to go next, managing peers and noise, and preparing for an entirely different set of expectations requires a surprising amount of regulation and executive functioning.

As you walk your hallways, ask:

What support is available for the child who struggles here?

It might be a visual cue.

It might be a predictable movement opportunity.

It might be a calming strategy.

Sometimes a relatively small environmental support can make a difficult transition more manageable.

4. Ask whether your hallway helps students return ready to learn.

This is one of my favorite questions.

Instead of thinking only about hallway behavior—Are students quiet? Are they walking? Are they following expectations?—consider what happens after the hallway.

Does the environment help students arrive at their next destination ready to participate?

Purposeful movement can provide opportunities to work on body awareness, coordination, balance, motor planning, regulation, and attention.

A hallway can also reinforce skills we want students to carry back into the classroom:

Confidence.

Patience.

Perseverance.

Kindness.

Leadership.

A hallway doesn't have to be wasted space.

5. Look at the space you already have.

This may be the most practical part of the entire exercise.

Look for:

An empty wall.

An unused corner.

A long stretch of hallway.

A small space outside a counseling office.

An area near the intervention room.

A spot where a portable activity could be rolled out when needed.

You don't necessarily need a dedicated sensory room—or a large budget—to create another opportunity for regulation in your school.

Start with the space you already have.

For Catholic Schools: Look Through One More Lens

In a Catholic school, I would add another question to the hallway walk:

Does our Catholic identity extend beyond our classrooms?

Catholic education has a unique opportunity to surround students with reminders of who they are and Whose they are throughout the entire school day.

Faith formation doesn't have to stop when students leave religion class.

Our hallways and shared spaces can reinforce Scripture, prayer, virtues, Sacraments, and reminders of God's presence.

And our sensory and regulation supports don't have to be separate from that mission either.

We can support the body, mind, AND spirit.

That's one of the reasons I created Sacred Steps in the first place. I wanted Catholic schools to have access to purposeful movement and regulation supports without having to separate those supports from their Catholic identity.

Try This Tomorrow

Take five minutes and walk one hallway in your school.

Don't walk it as an administrator thinking about schedules, supervision, or maintenance.

For five minutes, try to walk it from the perspective of a student.

Ask yourself:

What does this space ask of our students—and what does it give back to them?

Then identify one space that could work a little harder.

That's it.

You don't need to redesign your school.

Start with one hallway. One wall. One corner. One opportunity.

Download the Free Principal's Hallway Checklist

I've turned these questions into a simple printable checklist you can take with you as you walk through your building.

Use it yourself, share it with your leadership team, or walk through the building with your OT, counselor, intervention specialist, or facilities staff.

Catholic school? I've created a Catholic version, too, with an additional section on Faith Throughout the Building.

Want to Learn More?

If your hallway walk leaves you looking at an empty wall or unused stretch of floor and thinking, We could do something with that, I'd be happy to help.

Sacred Steps Sensory Paths offers floor-based, wall-based, and portable movement and regulation supports designed specifically for real school environments.

And you don't need to begin with a full sensory path.

Whether you have $300 or $3,000, we can start with the space and budget you have and determine what could make the greatest impact for your students.

Sometimes transforming a school environment doesn't start with a huge project.

It starts by looking at an ordinary space differently.

About the Author

Trisha Klausing, MOT, OTR/L, is a practicing school-based occupational therapist and founder of Sacred Steps Sensory Paths. Drawing on more than a decade of experience working with students and educators, she creates movement and regulation supports designed for the realities of school environments. Sacred Steps offers both faith-based and universal options to help schools create purposeful opportunities for movement, regulation, confidence, executive functioning, and student success.

Why Did Seven Catholic Schools just Choose Who God Says I Am?

As educators, we spend countless hours helping children learn who they are.

We encourage perseverance after mistakes. We celebrate kindness. We remind students they are capable, valued, and important.

But today's children are also growing up in a world that constantly tells them who they should be—and too often, those messages create anxiety, self-doubt, and comparison.

As I recently completed installations throughout the Archdiocese of Omaha, I noticed something that immediately stood out.

When nine Catholic schools selected products for their hallways, one collection became the clear favorite.

Three schools chose the complete Who God Says I Am Sensory Path, while four additional schools selected the Who God Says I Am Starter Set.

That made me stop and think.

Why did this message resonate so deeply?

Children Need Truth They Can Return To

Every school day is filled with moments that challenge a child's confidence.

A difficult math assignment.

A disagreement with a friend.

A poor test grade.

Feeling left out at recess.

Making a mistake in class.

These moments often become the stories children tell themselves.

"I'm not good enough."

"Nobody likes me."

"I always mess things up."

As Catholic educators, we have the incredible opportunity to replace those lies with truth.

Imagine students walking down the hallway and being reminded:

• I Am Loved

• I Am Forgiven

• I Am Strong

• I Am Brave

• I Am Peaceful

• I Am Never Alone

• I Am God's Child

Not once.

Not only during religion class.

But every single day.

Why Movement Makes These Messages More Meaningful

As a pediatric occupational therapist, I've seen firsthand how movement prepares the brain for learning.

Movement increases alertness.

It supports attention.

It helps regulate emotions.

It improves memory and retention.

When children move while interacting with meaningful messages, they're doing much more than getting the wiggles out.

They're pairing physical movement with positive identity.

That combination helps those affirmations become experiences rather than simply words on a wall.

Instead of walking past another hallway display, students are actively engaging with reminders of who God says they are.

Hallways Can Become Places of Formation

Catholic schools do an incredible job forming students academically and spiritually inside the classroom.

But learning doesn't stop when students leave their desks.

Hallways are some of the most frequently used spaces in every school.

Those daily transitions can become opportunities to reinforce faith, encourage movement, and support emotional regulation—all in less than a minute.

When students repeatedly encounter these messages throughout the school year, they become familiar, comforting reminders during both joyful and challenging moments.

Why I Believe This Collection Resonated

I can't speak for each school's individual decision, but after working with Catholic educators across 27 states and Canada, I've noticed a common theme.

Schools aren't just looking for sensory paths.

They're looking for ways to intentionally shape school culture.

They want students to know they are seen.

They want children to feel safe.

They want every hallway to reinforce the values they teach inside the classroom.

The Who God Says I Am collection does exactly that.

It's more than movement.

It's a daily reminder of identity rooted in faith.

Try This Tomorrow

Take a walk through your school's hallways and imagine you're seeing them through the eyes of a student.

What messages do they encounter?

What do your walls say about kindness, courage, forgiveness, or belonging?

Even one intentional reminder placed where students naturally transition throughout the day can become a meaningful moment of encouragement.

Want to Learn More?

The Who God Says I Am collection was thoughtfully designed to combine purposeful movement with faith-filled affirmations that remind students of their identity in Christ.

Whether you're looking for the complete sensory path or a simple Starter Set to begin transforming your hallways, these movement experiences help reinforce positive messages every single day.

If you'd like to see how Catholic schools across the country are using the collection—or explore which option might be the best fit for your school—I'd love to help.

Browse the collection or contact me anytime. Together, we can create hallways that encourage movement, strengthen faith, and remind every child exactly who God says they are.

Still deciding?

If you'd like to see the quality of Sacred Steps products before purchasing, I'd be happy to send you a complimentary sample.

It's a simple way to experience the colors, materials, and durability firsthand—and see why schools across 27 states and Canada have chosen Sacred Steps.

👉 Request your free sample here.

About the Author

Trisha Klausing, OTR/L is a pediatric occupational therapist and the founder of Sacred Steps Sensory Paths. She combines over a decade of school-based occupational therapy experience with her passion for Catholic education to create movement experiences that strengthen self-regulation, learning, and faith. Sacred Steps products are currently used in schools across 27 states and Canada.