Using Challenge Course Initiatives to Build Community in the Pre-Kindergarten Classroom

Abstract

The paper examines the use of challenge course initiatives, specifically those focused on team enrichment and interaction, in a pre-kindergarten classroom and the effect they may have on the classroom community. After examining the theories of John Dewey, Maria Montessori, and Lev Vygotsky a foundation of early childhood development was established. The paper then examines recent studies in challenge course theory that analyze the effectiveness of challenge courses, the importance of humor and joking culture in challenge courses, and the three R’s (relevance, relationship, real) of experiential education research. The paper discusses the facilitation of five different activities: Link Up, This or That, Partner Introductions, Tower Build, and What Goes Here and the debrief sessions that followed. Data presented in the paper supports the conclusion that the children in the study demonstrated greater knowledge and details about one another as well as ways to work cooperatively within a team.