Fun On The Playground

The freedom of unstructured time on the playground seems to be a tricky time of the day for my friends. The social rules are in charge on the playground and since there are so many unwritten laws of free play, there are glitches a couple times a week. Teachers can't hover over the kids when they play. It is their downtime. The only time of the day where they can be who they are and let loose at school. This friend gravitated towards sticks and was a little obsessed with them. He would chase kids and sometimes hit them. Needless to say chasing and hitting kids with sticks on the playground is an immediate bypass to the Principal's office. I had to try to stop this vicious cycle and came up with this story. It is a start. Although we are not out of the woods with this problem, this story and careful monitoring, constant reminders and praise for leaving those sticks on the ground helped to tone down this problem. Enjoy!

Recess Fun

The playground is a fun place to play.

There are many things to do.

There are swings to swing on.

There are slides to slide down.

There are monkey bars to climb on.

There are basketball courts to play ball on.

There are soccer field goals to shoot the ball in.

Every day, I get some time to play at recess.

I have many fun choices.

Playing with sticks is not one of those choices.

My mom doesn’t want me to play with sticks.

My teachers and principal don’t want me to play with sticks.

It is against the rules to play with sticks.

Sticks belong on the ground, end of story.

I have so many fun choices on the playground, so I don’t need to pick sticks.