Play Environments - Fox Valley Mall

On March 20, I observed children on a play structure for a half hour and on a merry-go-round for fifteen minutes at the Fox Valley Mall in Naperville, Illinois. The structure is about two stories eye, with lots of platforms, surrounded by a net. There were also three smaller plastic structures (two cars and a frog) for younger children. They either played on one of these three things or ran around on the ground. A little girl and a little boy played in a car - the girl pretending to drive to her grandma's house and the little boy having a race with Lightning McQueen, a character from the movie Cars. Boys and girls who were in the structure interacted with one another, even if they did not know each other, but most chose to climb alone. Some of them climbed up to the top and then sat looking around, while others kept moving constantly. One boy told his mom that he was going to climb up the big tree into the clouds, but he was the only one I observed in the equipment engaging in imaginative play. The older children did try to help the younger ones when they chose to try and climb up. One little boy started climbing on the blue railings and a girl tried to correct him, showing him where the entrance was. Another little girl expressed anxiety about climbing in, and a little boy (who did not know her) assured her that "it wasn't bad for her." When the children were climbing, some remained on their feet and others were crawling. Older children would show the little ones around, holding their hand or saying "follow me" or "come this way." The equipment is built in a way that requires very little parent interaction, so the kids could play independently.

The merry-go-round is a two story structure that's in the middle of the food court. It was extremely popular with the children and those whose parents denied them a chance to ride were extremely upset. The kids who were riding laughed and waved to the people in the food court and some were pretending to race, though the animals remain stationary. Some of them moved up and down, and some of the kids counted how many times they moved.

Play Environments - Plainfield Park

I observed for a half hour at an unnamed park near my home on March 20. This park is huge! Much like the playground at St. Mary's, the park is separated into two sections. One is larger and has more complicated climbing structures, along with a rock wall. It is much taller and sits above wood chips. The smaller playground is built on some kind of foam, since younger children are more likely to fall. The equipment is not as tall nor as complicated. The three kids who were playing on it (they looked to be about three years old) seemed to be thriving in an environment that was all theirs, rather than having to compete with older children. The older ones refused to play on this structure, saying it was "for babies." Some of the younger children did venture over to the other equipment, they struggled to use it because it was so much bigger. Mothers had to help them to climb up and make sure they were being safe. One ended up falling on the wood chips and starting to cry. There is also a large skate park thing at this park (one of those big holes, where skateboarders ride or people can ride their bikes) which the children liked to use. Some rode their bikes or scooters, pretending they were racing or competing. Some even ran in and out on their feet, imagining they were playing in a cave.

Play Environments - Wheatland Township Community Park

I observed at the Wheatland Township Community Park for a half hour on March 20. There were about ten children at the park, four younger and six older. I do not know exact ages, but the younger seemed to be three-five and the older were about eight. Two of the younger children were playing in the sand area, but they were not using the two digging tools. They were simply sitting in the sand and using their hands and some cups (provided by a mother) to dig and build a city. An older sibling came over and showed his brother how to use the digger, but the little brother remained uninterested in using it. The two other young children, who I don't think knew each other before meeting at the park that day, were playing by the dinosaur and the castle in the structure. They were creating an elaborate story of a princess and a prince who lived in the castle and "loved each other really a lot" so the prince was trying to save the princess from the dragon. The older children were not engaging in imaginative play, but simply using the equipment. They really loved the zip line, where they created a competition of who could go back and forth the most. The swings were pretty much ignored, except for one of the younger ones left the sand and was pushed in the swing. Another younger child even went and played on the bike rack, jumping back and forth over it.

Play Environments - 3rd and 4th Grade Playground

I observed third and fourth graders on the playground at St. Mary Immaculate Parish School on March 17 for a half hour. It was a day when they were supposed to play only on the blacktop, because the grass was wet and muddy, so they were not supposed to go into the open grassy field next to the playground equipment. There are two structures at this playground, one larger and made of plastic, while the other is smaller and wooden. Boys and girls played together on the structures, but they were not engaging in imaginative play but doing activities (climbing, monkey bars, etc). They climbed up the slide and also climbed on top of the equipment and then just sat there and talked to their friends. Many boys were engaged in playing football on the blacktop and several small groups of girls were engaging in creative play, like house, horses and some kind of exploration activity. It was only on the equipment that boys and girls interacted. Girls were on the swings, alone or sharing it with a friend. No boys at all used the swings during this recess time. There was one much younger girl on the equipment, the daughter of one of the recess monitors, who for awhile was playing alone under the wooden structure on the tire swing, but then several older girls went underneath to play with her.

Play Environments - Pre-K on Playground

I observed a pre-k class (the same one from my classroom observations) outside on the school playground at St. Mary Immaculate Parish School for a half hour on March 17. The teacher told the students that they were not to go under the playset because it was still muddy under there, so they weren't allowed to go on the tire swing that hung under there. There are two separate structures for their school playgrounds - one is larger and made of plastic and the other is smaller and wooden, made more for the younger students. More of them were playing on the smaller structure. There were many arguments about the swings, which were the most wanted commodity. Children waited impatiently for their turn. The younger students were more likely to use the equipment properly, doing down the slide rather than climbing up it. They spent more time on the wooden structure and also used some equipment that the older students didn't use at all - many of them were ringing the bell, which I didn't even realize was there when I was watching the older students in this environment. Some of the girls chose not to use the equipment at all, but were instead drawing chalk on the sidewalk, creating stories for themselves and drawing their favorite characters, like Wall-E. The boys were chasing each other around and balancing on the curbs.

Play Environments - Pre-K Classroom

On March 17, 2009 I observed in a pre-kindergarten classroom at St. Mary Immaculate Parish School for a half hour during free play time. During this time, children were called over individually or in small groups to complete two centers - one where they used their fingerprints to make shamrocks and another where they worked on letter formation. In the classroom, there is a large wooden castle with stairs leading up to an open play area. As cool as this seemed to me, not many children were playing in it. The teacher told me that in the beginning of the teacher, when it was still new, almost all the students used to play in there, but now that they have gotten used to it, it seems less exciting to them. At this age, there was a lot of gender separation and also many children who were playing alone. When they were playing in groups, it was not usually more than four children. Boys were playing on the train table and doing puzzles, while girls were using the blocks to build towers and using manipulatives to create stories, either with other girls or individually. Boys were also playing superheroes in an open space, using no equipment. When the kids were doing the puzzles, they were playing with the pieces and pretending they were people. One of the teachers scolded them, telling to they had to use the puzzle "properly" or put it away. Boys and girls were both playing in the dollhouse, coloring and playing house. In the house area, there were children who were playing Mommy and Daddy and one or two who were the dogs. The parents made the meals and cared for the babies, while also playing fetch with the dog. The plastic food was used not only as the adults' food, the baby's food and the dog's food but also as dog toys. The roles were pretty fluid, with children choosing to stop being the mom and start being a dog whenever they wanted. The table and a large plastic tupperware were made into a cage for the dog. Play was pretty independent, unless one of the children refused to share with his friend. In these cases, the student would run and tell the teacher, who would set a time limit on how long each could play with the desired toy. This seemed to help the problem.

Play Behaviors-2nd grade classroom

Yesterday, (3/17/09) I observed a 2nd grade classroom from 830-1030 where there are 22 students, 12 boys and 10 girls and a very non-diverse classroom. There are Caucasian students and latino students. This class is 7-9 years old (1 child was held back so that is how he is 9). There are 4 students in this class with cognitive disabilities and behavioral issues.

This day was St. Patrick's Day, so it was a PLAY based day. The whole morning opening was based on discussion from what the leprechaun did to the room and how they can set a trap to catch the leprechaun. The day started out with a maze throughout the room that was traced with green glitter that really emphasized the difference through the genders because of the discussion that was taking place. The boys were trying to catch it and trap and the girls wanted to catch it to take it home to show their parents. The maze led to different clues about were the leprechaun was and clues to find him throughout the day. This maze caused some amazing discussion and also some GREAT journals for the morning writing. The discussion was how the leprechaun got in and out of the classroom, and in the journals they talked about his outfit and how the leprechaun was going to come back and visit. All from glitter this caused so many kids to be playing with their pencils pretending that the pencil was the leprechaun and acting out what they would say to him if they did see them. (They did not know they would meet him 2 hours later)

After they finished their morning work, they are allowed to go to the pupper show center or the carpet to read/play games, and every child went to the puppet show and they put on a play about how they were going to go throughout the school and follow the green and find the leprechaun in the school somewhere, and then what they would do with him after. The carpet also turned into the meeting station to find the stinky leprechaun. This allowed the students to take their regular carpet which is just used for meeting circle and use their imagination to allow it to be something else.

After everyone finished their work, they returned to their seats, but their assignment for cursive writing turned into a letter that could only be written in cursive because that is the only thing the leprechaun can read is cursive. This really allowed students to use what they have learned in cursive and allowed them to write something fun instead of doing a worksheet on practicing it. They took their regular day assignments and turned them into fun writing assignments.

Once they finished their letters to the leprechaun, each student gets free choice time, and they can read, write, or play a game quietly. One girl wrote a book about her day (3 pages long with pictures) and then sat on the teachers stool and pretended that she was the teacher instructing the class how she was going to catch the leprechaun. I thought about this, she wrote a whole story, became a teacher, and gave very clear instructions to the class.

After everyone was done with that, they had to clean up the leprechaun's mess, so it was a game of competition of what group can get done first with their area and the prize was to get to put your gym shoes on first. Not the best prize, but all of the groups were very quick, and this allowed the students to have inspiration to do their job and not waste time talking to eachother etc.

While I was observing the 2nd graders, the Kindergartners were on a chase to go find the leprechaun in theschool, and then the 2nd graders joined in. it was very spontaneous, but I believe that those children will remember that they went chasing a leprechaun and by the end they caught him. What a memory is that!!!!

Overall, play is incorporated through free choice time but also through work time. Both genders take play in a different way, and this allows the children to be very successful with their creativity and imagination.