Where in the World Isn't Bob Saget?

Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
PUSH said:
I read a book, I believe last summer, about teaching in Finland. It was really interesting, so I researched it a lot more. They go out for recess in every type of weather and encourage those "riskier" types of play. When they come in, they take off their shoes/boots and go shoeless in their classrooms. Then I found out some countries have their students even go barefoot. When I got to thinking about it, it makes a lot of sense. It's more comfortable, it's what kids are used to doing at home, and it keeps the classroom cleaner. I would love to have a shoeless classroom, but of course I live in the land of lawsuits and what happens if you have a fire drill, or someone stubs their toe? :rolleyes:
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It doesn't snow a lot here, and there was one day where it snowed a lot the night before, so when we brought our kids to school in the morning, the kids had a MASSIVE snowball fight on the playground. The teachers let them stay out there an extra like 15 minutes before actually starting class to give the kids time to play in the snow. It was great for them.
 
PUSH

PUSH

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Songbird76 said:
It doesn't snow a lot here, and there was one day where it snowed a lot the night before, so when we brought our kids to school in the morning, the kids had a MASSIVE snowball fight on the playground. The teachers let them stay out there an extra like 15 minutes before actually starting class to give the kids time to play in the snow. It was great for them.
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We're soft when it comes to letting our kids do anything. And it's all because of potential lawsuits. I'm totally on board for allowing kids to try "riskier" play. Let them play with sticks. Let them play in dirt. Let them run around in the grass barefoot. Let them climb up the slides, or on top of the equipment. Let them climb trees. But all it takes is one parent to accuse us of not looking out for student safety.

We have an arboretum up the hill and across the street from our school. I take my class there a couple times each year. There's a big wooded, but open area in the middle. I let them climb trees and play with sticks in the area. They love it. Some of them have never done stuff like that. And guess what... I've never had a major injury. Yes, they get scraped, but that's life as a kid. That's how they learn to manage risk.
 
Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
PUSH said:
We're soft when it comes to letting our kids do anything. And it's all because of potential lawsuits. I'm totally on board for allowing kids to try "riskier" play. Let them play with sticks. Let them play in dirt. Let them run around in the grass barefoot. Let them climb up the slides, or on top of the equipment. Let them climb trees. But all it takes is one parent to accuse us of not looking out for student safety.

We have an arboretum up the hill and across the street from our school. I take my class there a couple times each year. There's a big wooded, but open area in the middle. I let them climb trees and play with sticks in the area. They love it. Some of them have never done stuff like that. And guess what... I've never had a major injury. Yes, they get scraped, but that's life as a kid. That's how they learn to manage risk.
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I guess for me it's about HOW they play with them. If they are using twigs and small branches to build a fort, go for it. If they are pretending they are lightsabers and having a sword fight, not so much. If they are chasing a classmate trying to lash them with it, definitely not. And as a teacher, it's hard to keep an eye on EVERYONE all at once to make sure no one is doing things they shouldn't. But the playground where my kids went to elementary school didn't have much in the way of equipment. They had a soccer pen, and a set of bars where you could do flips....that was it. It had some retaining walls and a big field where kids played games. But they just kind of had to be creative.
 
PUSH

PUSH

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Songbird76 said:
I guess for me it's about HOW they play with them. If they are using twigs and small branches to build a fort, go for it. If they are pretending they are lightsabers and having a sword fight, not so much. If they are chasing a classmate trying to lash them with it, definitely not. And as a teacher, it's hard to keep an eye on EVERYONE all at once to make sure no one is doing things they shouldn't. But the playground where my kids went to elementary school didn't have much in the way of equipment. They had a soccer pen, and a set of bars where you could do flips....that was it. It had some retaining walls and a big field where kids played games. But they just kind of had to be creative.
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Yeah, obviously not using sticks as weapons, but we take them away anytime kids find one. Some kids will even bring them to us because they view them as "bad". Our playground doesn't have many places to find sticks, though. We actually have our largest set of equipment taped off because it's old and rusty and not safe to play on. They have replacement stuff ordered, but it won't be here for the start of the year. Not sure when it will.
 
trr1

trr1

Well-Known Member
PUSH said:
We're soft when it comes to letting our kids do anything. And it's all because of potential lawsuits. I'm totally on board for allowing kids to try "riskier" play. Let them play with sticks. Let them play in dirt. Let them run around in the grass barefoot. Let them climb up the slides, or on top of the equipment. Let them climb trees. But all it takes is one parent to accuse us of not looking out for student safety.

We have an arboretum up the hill and across the street from our school. I take my class there a couple times each year. There's a big wooded, but open area in the middle. I let them climb trees and play with sticks in the area. They love it. Some of them have never done stuff like that. And guess what... I've never had a major injury. Yes, they get scraped, but that's life as a kid. That's how they learn to manage risk.
Click to expand...
do they play kickball or hockey at recess and dodgeball during PE?
(Four Variations of Dodgeball Games for Elementary PE Class)
  • Cageball.
  • Scatter.
  • Murder Ball.
  • War Ball.
Ahhhh those welt from dodgeball
 
trr1

trr1

Well-Known Member
PUSH said:
Yeah, obviously not using sticks as weapons, but we take them away anytime kids find one. Some kids will even bring them to us because they view them as "bad". Our playground doesn't have many places to find sticks, though. We actually have our largest set of equipment taped off because it's old and rusty and not safe to play on. They have replacement stuff ordered, but it won't be here for the start of the year. Not sure when it will.
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my elementary school playground had these

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PUSH

PUSH

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
trr1 said:
do they play kickball or hockey at recess and dodgeball during PE?
(Four Variations of Dodgeball Games for Elementary PE Class)
  • Cageball.
  • Scatter.
  • Murder Ball.
  • War Ball.
Ahhhh those welt from dodgeball
Click to expand...
I think the older grades might play kickball. The younger ones don't know how to play.
 

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