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.

Play Behaviors-In Front of the School

I observed from 8-8:30 on (3-17-09) in front of the school as the children were waiting to get into the school. This age range was from 4-14 (the whole school) and the only equipment around was a bench that all of the adults were sitting on and the lines in the pavement. Today, the students were all VERY excited because it was St. Patrick's day, so they were all dressed for the day of excitement. Throughout this observation, all of the children were playing with each other no matter what the age. I also noticed that siblings were sticking together. One family with a 7th grader, a 4th grader, and a kindergartner were all playing together. This area was very interesting to observe because it was a mix of ages, mix of genders, mix of ethnicity (Caucasian, African American, Asian American and Latino.)

The only main observations that I made from this is that the students will play with each other no matter where they are or what they have to do. The mixed ranges of age were playing tag/chase with each other and the different poles were if you got caught or if you were hiding. Their imagination with a pole and pavement was very inspiring because that proves that they do not need equipment to have to play with each other.

With a group of both male and females and from the age of 5-12, there was a tag game with a leprechaun chasing after them and if they got caught they had to go to the pot of gold which was the garbage can. Overall, all of the age groups had room to play whatever game that they felt they wanted to and through the different ages playing together, both the young and the old learned something. The older children would guide the children in the ways to be safe etc, while the younger children had so much creativity that it really expanded what their game was.

Overall, this open plot of pavement really allowed children to pick what they were going to play and how they were going to play it and gave them the freedom that they needed to understand what they are doing to make this game their own.

Play Behaviors-Gym Class

Yesterday, (3/17/09) I observed a gym class of 2nd graders (7-8 year old) and then a gym class of 5th graders (10-11) with a mix of both male and female. I observed for about 35-40 minutes. The diversity included Caucasian, African American, Asian American, and Latino in both classes. In the 2nd grade class, there were 2 boys and 1 girl with disabilities, but they were mostly cognitive disabilities, not physical.

In the 2nd grade class, they had centers available and there were 4 of them. They included spin-its, hula hoops, scoopers, and jump rope. The only designated station that you had to do one particular activity was at the jump rope to practice the skill of jumping rope. This station of the jump rope they were learning the concept of how to stay on one spot and jump over the rope to the rhyme "Blue Bells". This is a very hard concept for the students to learn because it is putting so many skills together, while staying on spot doing it. This was very hard for some of the children to just jump over, but then adding the second step of staying on the same spot while jumping and landing.

The first station that she said follow the gym rules/school rules, but you may do with it what you wish was the spin-its (which are the same things as skip its). The children used these toys to practice their counting, making it into a competition of what student can get the highest number of skips. They then started to make it into a game of snakes that were chasing you and if you got hit by the snake, then you were sent to the castle to see the king which was another person with a skipper. After that game was finished, the students turned the game into a game where they had all 5 students at the station jump from the same rope and they were incorporating what they learned earlier in the week with teamwork into their classroom. The students also just practiced skipping at this station, but when they made a scenario, they seemed to truly enjoy the situation more then they did when they were just jumping.

The second station for the 2nd graders was the hula hoops. Some of the students just hula hooped, but 3 students that I saw made it a game of "juggling" where they would pass the hula hoops by throwing them in the air, and that caused them to pretend like they were in the circus. The students really enjoyed preteneding that they were performing a show, and this encouraged them to practice hand-eye coordination and also different activities that include teamwork but also really emphasize the differences in the imagination level that the students have. The students who did play circus made up names for each of them and a name for their circus while still doing their juggling act for their friends. This one tool turned into a game later at recess that they shared with all of their friends, I found out from their gym teacher.

The thrid station was the scoopers, which is a wiffle ball and cut open gallon milk jugs. In the gym teachers eyes, the student should just be using this as a way to practice their throwing and catching skills, but these students really emphasized their imagination and with each group that was there, it was some type of food shop. They took a wiffle ball and made it into pizza and ice cream and cake and the milk jug was the counter or the cone. It was so interesting to see the students practice this skill but they aren't aware of doing it. I believe this is the best way for the student practice the skill is when they don't even know that they are doing it. The issues behind this with the gym teacher was that they were not paying attention to what they were supposed to be doing, but they really did continue to play the game and also the students were using teamwork with all 5 members in their squads/group to make this restaurant work.

In the 5th graders gym class, I saw the ending and they were having a dance class. It looked like so much fun especially because the students were all smiling and into this dance. They were learning the cupid shuffle and really emphasized what the importance of teamwork was to make the whole class learn the dance and how cool it looks when you put the 24 students together doing the dance for a group. There was not much play in this class besides of course the dancing, but the students each took this experience of learning the cupid shuffle and making the dance their own their a little twirl or spin here or there.

Assessing Play Behaviors - Playground

After assessing him in both the classroom and non-structure school environment, I realized that he needs to be in the playground setting. With everything I have watched him do over the past several weeks (and years) it has come to my knowledge that he feels more open and free when he is not being judged in the presence of adults. By observing him on the playground, the intelligences from the previous two environments are able to shine through more than I ever thought imaginable. The main part was the bodily/kinesthetic because he was able to use his body to run, jump, and be rough with other males of the same age. Due to him being a seven-year-old male, he was as physical as could be. One of his favorite activities was chasing his friends and tackling them when he caught them and visa-versa. Each and every time this occurred, I thought for sure he was going to get hurt or hurt someone else. However this did not happen at all, but rather they enjoyed it a lot. Also, he was able to be in the nature environment that he desperately needs to bring about a different side of him. Being in nature allows him to experience the weather and be with the elements that he enjoys playing in. I found it interesting that at times he would break apart from his friends and go find some sort of weed/flower and experience that all by himself. He did not care if none of his friends were interested, he did it on his own. This was extremely beneficial for him because he was again able to calm himself down. He knows the different times when he can be crazy and loud and when he needs to focus and be by himself.

In addition, I was able to assess his gross motor skills in a wide range. Being outside on the playground equipment gave him free range to the blacktop as well. As certain times he would run with his friends, throwing, catching, and kicking the ball with ease. His skills were definitely where they needed to be for his developmental level. Also, his fine motor skills were evident in that he was able to tie his shoes with ease whenever it was necessary. He did not need any help from adults or supervisors at all. The entire time I have been observing him, he was able to do the necessary adjustments when it came to tying his shoes. 

Assessing Play Behaviors - Classroom

Regarding the learning and playing of this child in the classroom setting, I do not feel that they fit well whatsoever. He is the type of child that needs many different types of teaching styles to fully engage him in learning. This correlates the differences in play he needs. The classroom play is very limited. While the lessons being taught are substantial for many of the students, it does not reach him many of the times. He has been diagnosed with a severe form of A.D.H.D. which also comes into play in the classroom. I feel that by the teacher knowing of this information, she does not try hard enough to engage him in classroom activities or find ways that will stimulate him.

Once again, using Gardner's Multiple Intelligences, I found that in the classroom, he is spatial, bodily/kinesthetic, and naturalist intelligent. The naturalist intelligence was something that did not surprise me at all. He loves to play outside and go up north with his family. Due to me having prior knowledge of that information, it was easy for me to assess him based on that as well as his play in the classroom. The activities they do regarding science and anything that can be related to outside sparks his interests. He is able to focus more on the given task while still putting his own personal stamp on it. I definitely think he is advanced in this intelligence as well. According to the criterion we made, he can easily relate to the natural world around him. Bringing in elements from nature such as leaves, flowers, small insects, etc. he can take an activity and play with it all day. I found this interesting because he would gravitate more towards learning instead of going off for free play. He wanted to immerse himself in what was going on and did not enjoy leaving the lesson to do something else. Also, he would replicate the elements he was introduced to by making structures with blocks or trying to find the puzzle that best suited the elements he learned about.

His fine motor skills were again easily assessed during the classroom play setting. Whenever the teacher would give him a task, such as using scissors for an assignment, he would easily and readily accomplish it. When he was in a more structured environment such as the classroom, he was teacher directed so he knew that when he was told to cut something, he would cut it. This was not so much of a play activity other than when using the scissors he was able to create different pieces that fit together for the life cycle of a flower/animal/etc. Even though I was able to assess his behaviors in this environment, I do not feel that his play was optimized. Unlike the non-structured environment, it was more so of doing what the teacher asked and his creativity was not able to shine through.

Assessing Play Behaviors - Non Structured

Over the past several weeks I have been observing one Caucasian male child that is seven-years-old. I have known him for many years due to him being my neighbor. This has allowed me to see the tremendous growth he has had in all aspects of his life. Considering he is in second grade presently, he has not been in school for an extremely lengthy period of time, but he has come to learn the rules of the classroom and of the school. By using the rubric our group has created, I was able to analyze his different learning styles, where he was optimal in learning, and where he needs to work on specific areas.

The classroom is definitely an area in which does not appeal to him whatsoever. He does not have the proper amount of freeness he needs in order to play successfully. He is somewhat confined to the time alloted for play and due to behavioral difficulties, his play becomes even more regulated at certain times. Using Gardner's Multiple Intelligences, it was evident that he excels in spatial and bodily-kinesthetic intelligences. He was without question advanced in both of these areas. Whenever he is able to be physical and use his body to accomplish the rough and tumble play he loves so much, he is able to excel much more then when he is required to use numbers or music. I found that when he was given the opportunity to play in the classroom, his bodily-kinesthetic intelligence flurished when he could use the blocks and materials to build. He is an avid Star Wars fan and due to that, he would build amazing space crafts for the Star Wars characters. The structures were very large and also resembled some of the most difficult ones from the Star Wars movies. This enabled me to see that he can remember a lot of specific details from the areas he enjoys the most. 

In addition, his spatial ability caught me off guard. Like I have previously stated, I have known him for many years so I had a preconceived notion as to what worked for him and what did not. I was pleasantly surprised to see that he can manipulate puzzles extremely easily and work with the more difficult ones when given the chance. He definitely can picture something at one point in time and later replicate it drawing tremendous attention to visual memory. With him, it all depends on if the topic he is working with interests him or not. I think this is why I was so amazed with him. He transformed from being a child that did not want anything to do with the classroom no matter what, to a child that greatly loved certain aspects that caught his attention. By him finding areas to play in the classroom, this spilled over to the content areas. By invoking a positive correlation between free play or "non-structured" school environment and the classroom his curriculum areas also began to excel.

In addition to Gardner's Multiple Intelligences, I also assessed his fine and gross motor skills. He is definitely advanced in all of the fine motor skills in our criterion. This includes building a tower of more than ten blocks, cutting straight and curved lines with scissors, copying images of shapes, and tying his shoes. He had all of these skills mastered awhile ago, so it could just be depending on his age. Also, this aids in my analyzation of his spatial and bodily/kinesthetic intelligences. As for gross motor, during his free play in the non-structured school environment, I was not able to assess the criterion we set forth. The non-structured environment definitely was not large at all for him to play with in the classroom. The only aspect I could assess was the balancing on one foot, which he was advanced with. Again, it could be due to his age, but I was not surprised at all of this because he is constantly standing while doing projects such as building. He enjoys using one foot and then the other. I feel that it somewhat calms him down when he is stressed out. Instead of being loud and somewhat obnoxious, he builds large towers while standing on one foot!.

Play Environments - Playground Equipment

Yesterday (3/14/09) I also was able to go to the mall in Green Bay. The mall has an area in which children can play in to relieve some of the tension that comes along with a day at the mall with parents and/or older siblings. The children here had the biggest age range with it being from one to seven. The demographics were also more mixed that I would have initially expected. The children were Caucasian, Hispanic, and Native American. I did not see any African American or Asian American children for the duration I was examining the play ground equipment. Also, once again the genders were both male and female.

I enjoyed this play area for one simple fact, it has benches all along the inside for parents and adults to sit and monitor their children without having to be uncomfortable. I know for me and a very near future-mother, that made a big impact. If there was nowhere for me to sit and monitor my child, I would walk right on by. Anyway, the equipment ranged from books with a bench for storytelling/reading, a large bear to climb on, and other structures for the children use as slides or climbing areas. The younger children would basically try to walk or climb on the smaller areas whereas the older children were a big more crazy in terms of running around and making a lot of noise. The older children wanted to play tag with one another or simple chase one another. The younger children would bring books by their adults or be set up on the slide and go down it. I genuinely do not enjoy the type of playground equipment they had for inside of the mall. While it could be seen as an improvement from what the mall used to have (nothing), I would not recommend for children to be left alone. It seems that the structures do not take into consideration the children's safety. The band-aid slide does not have any edges so if the child gets too far to the edge, they could easily fall over. While it is not very tall at all, younger children could get hurt. Also, structures for children to climb on and manipulate were of extremely hard plastic. It does not seem very resourceful in a mall setting or any setting. If the structures and equipment were softer it would account for less harmful consequences along with more manipulation by the children.

Also, children with disabilities again would have a very difficult time trying to optimize their play with this environment. It is a pretty small area in regards to children with disabilities. They would need more room to maneuver. Also, they could not climb on the structures as well and the added danger would discourage them. The access point is also something to consider because even though everyone has access to the mall equipment, some children cannot even make it to the mall. Once they are there, it seems that the children enjoy playing on the equipment because it could be the only equipment they are ever given access to. I do not feel that it is discriminatory against any culture, but rather tries to convey an open environment that is appealing to all diverse cultures.

Play Environments - Informal

On Saturday (3/14/09) I was able to observe children at a park in Green Bay close to my house. This park does have playground equipment, but I found it more interesting to monitor the children that were playing in the open field instead of the equipment. The ages ranged from five to nine and were both male and female. The demographics for this examination were mainly Caucasian with a few Hispanic children as well. 

I took my sister and two neighbors up to the park yesterday because it was a beautiful day out. Just to be safe, I decided they should also bring their snow pants in case they wanted to play in the snow versus on the equipment and it was definitely good that I did that! As soon as the children got there, there was also many other children playing in the open field of the baseball diamond. There was huge snow piles made from either the snow plow or man-made. Either way, the children utilized them to their fullest abilities. No one truly could have imagined that the children would use the snow hill instead of the equipment, but that is exactly what they did. They made forts, hills, caves, and different houses for them to live in and work together with. The smaller children would try to help the older children with the structures, but eventually gave up and played in the snow until it was finished. Once the structures were complete, they were able to take sides and have a huge snowball fight. I found it interesting that as more children came to the playground area, they would initially go to the equipment, but then eagerly head towards the open field. While I am almost positive the snow mounds were not intended for children usage, but merely to get the snow off of the parking lot, the children took it upon themselves and created what they envisioned in their heads.

I really enjoyed analyzing this area because it was something I never would have thought to classify as a play environment. I guess I always felt that if children were going to play, they needed materials to stimulate their minds and creativity. It was to my surprise that all they needed was their imaginations. Children of all socioeconomic statuses would be able to play in an open field. It does not require government funding or grants for the school in which they attend. In addition, cultural diversity could easily be widespread. It is an open park environment causing no discrimination against any culture. Using an open field with the mounds of snow we have accumulated over the past several months was beneficial to almost all children. The only aspect I truly could not fathom was children with disabilities. With the amount of snow and huge hills the children were creating, it would be close to impossible for children with disabilities to function with what the children had created. However, if they took the time to make their area far away enough to not get knocked over with snowballs, they could use the snow for stimulation, snow angels, or whatever else their hearts desired. 

Play Environments - School Play Areas

This past weekend has been extremely hectic when it comes to everything I have done regarding this project and other homework. I decided to knock some aspects out of the way while I was going about my daily business. First off, I didn't have class on Friday (3/13/09) so I went to my sister's school and analyzed/examined the playground equipment they have available to them. It is an elementary school in Green Bay and the children ages ranged from six to nine. The demographics were a little different than typical because I waited until I picked my sister up from school. The children ranged across Caucasian, Native American, Hispanic, and Asian American backgrounds. It was a better mixture than it would be in one given classroom. Also, there was a sufficient number of both males and females.

The playground equipment is extremely diverse when it comes to the areas the children can play in. There are separate areas in which the children have access to. One is made up of wooden equipment that is extremely old due to it being there before I even attended the elementary school. Another is plastic that is ten-years-old and contains multiple areas for children to utilize. This includes monkey bars, tic-tac-toe area, bridge, swings, and a climbing area. The final area is a large blue plastic jungle gym type that allows the children to crawl up and down and pretend to be whatever they want. The areas for the most part were not used the way they were intended. The children definitely made it their own and only used the equipment to aid in their imaginations. 

Specifically, the playground equipment was used for a game of lava tag. This involves the children staying on the equipment and not touching the wood chips in case the lava monster would get them. The only way in which the playground was used to keep away from the child that was "it." Also, the females definitely enjoyed using the equipment to bring in their own interests. The bridge connected two separate castles that friends lived in. The larger castle had a slide to easily escape any intruders while the smaller one did not. I found it extremely interesting to notice that the equipment was hardly at all used for its intended purpose, unless the purpose was for mere enjoyment, then it was!

However there are multiple aspects of the playground that I did not find to be as well-rounded as I would have liked. Children with disabilities would have an extremely difficult time trying to use this equipment. It was all accessible for those that could climb and run, but for those who cannot, it would be virtually impossible for them to utilize it. Also, when it comes to cultural diversity, I feel that the equipment did not discriminate based on any culture, but it was vague enough to reach across all areas. There was not any specific areas in which a child of any diverse culture could relate to in their home lives. I feel as if the manufactures did not take into consideration all of the children that would be using it, but instead focused on what they could do in order for the majority to purchase it.  Finally, the money put into the playground equipment would not allow it to be accessible for all children to have in their schools. The plastic playground equipment was expensive when they got it ten years ago and now they are continuing to add onto it this upcoming year. I know that schools with lower income based families could not and would not have this equipment in their schools even though it should be equal across the board.

Non-Structured Environment

I observed the four to five year old Giggle Worms class at The Little Gym of Green Bay on January 17. There are thirteen children in the class, seven girls and six boys. Because of the ratio standards set by corporate, there were three teachers in the class. Every class is run using the same general set up. Class started with the children being let in to sit on the big red mat and shake the bells. One child in this class is nervous, so she sits on the side by the windows until she feels more comfortable and then she joins in. They then sang the welcome song. After the song, the lead instructor introduced the theme for the week, Three Cheers for Chores. The theme changes every week and it often strives to teach the children something outside of the gym, like helping out at home. Each child introduces themselves and then shares their favorite way to help their moms and dads at home. Some of the answers were very sweet and some children even admitted they don’t really do anything to help at home, which was quite funny. After they had all done that, the teacher reminded them of the two rules (be safe and have fun) and they started their warm up. Each child was given a scarf to use a “magic broom” during the song. The Little Gym utilizes a lot of directive music, where the directions are included in the song rather than the teacher having to talk the whole time. The children “cleaned” the floor, under their bed, the walls, the ceiling, themselves and even the teachers during the song. After this the children put their scarves away and sat at the end of the mat as the teachers pulled out the Air Trak, an inflatable bounce thing the kids absolutely go nuts for. They like it so much that they have a hard time waiting for their turn, especially because kids this age struggle with that anyway. We set up two sets of red parallel bars and told them to go into the fire truck to help them stay in line.

After the Air Trak, the children line up in three trains (one for each teacher) and each group went to one of three stations. The stations last for ten minutes each. After the children sit, they are given a magic word and when the teacher says that, it is their turn. The teacher first demonstrates what to do at the station by going through each piece of equipment and showing them what to do while simultaneously encouraging them to follow the rules and pushing them to grow their skills. Once the children start going, many of them will stay at the station and even imitate what the teacher said or did while she demonstrated. Some will wander away to other stations or just run around the gym. The Little Gym emphasizes encouragement through Specific Positive Feedback (SPF), telling the child what he has done well, and Directive Practice (DP), letting him know what he can improve on. All children are made to feel successful.

After the stations, the children play a game. It was called Clean Your Room and the children were split into two teams and they had to throw balls and beanbags onto the other team’s side. Whoever ended up with less stuff on their side won. The children did not really understand the game, but when the teachers participated and encouraged them they had fun with it.

Once the game was over, there is a closing circle where the children sit and talk about what they did at each station. They then bang their “drums” by hitting their hands on the mat and sing the goodbye song.

Children's Center Structured Environment

I observed Circle Time in the Children’s Center on Monday February 23 during afternoon preschool, from approximately 1:04 to 1:24, led by Miss Megan. During this time on Mondays, there are five student workers which seems a bit overwhelming for the students. At the start of every preschool day the children sing a welcome song, Rise and Shine. They sing it once in a regular singing voice, again in a loud voice and finally in a whisper. They do little motions with it and almost all of the children love the song and sing along all three times. Those who do not sing, for the most part, sit quietly and listen, rather than being silly or distracting. Lately, Miss Megan has been picking two children to stand up in front of the class to help with the song. One child asked, “Hey, what about me?” after he was not selected. The topic for this week is an author study of Jan Brett. Miss Megan introduced it by saying that it was an author and writing – “_an _rett” – on the white board for them, then showing them two of her books that the children heard earlier in the year and asking, “Can you remember who the author is?” Many children wanted to share their ideas and most raised their hands and waited to be called. This is something that they really stress in the Center, which is important on the road to classroom behavior when the children get to kindergarten, in the near future. After they figured out the letters, they sounded the words out using the letter sounds and talked about the double t ending only makes one t sound, rather than two.

Once they figured out the author, they were very excited to hear her stories, Gingerbread Baby and Gingerbread Friends, again. Many of them asked to hear them, even though they were both already read aloud to them. When Miss Megan told them they weren’t going to read it, then engaged in a discussion about the last time they read Gingerbread Baby when they made the gingerbread person and he ran away. She asked them, “How did he got out of the oven?” She let many of the children share their creative ideas. This discussion also trickled into free choice time, when the child I observe talked about it again during snack time.

Once Megan started reading, the students were very engaged in the story. They all sat cross-legged and faced forward, though one child needed a few reminders because he is new to preschool this semester. All the students paid attention, making predictions and connections and asking questions about the story as she read. They do a great job of noticing things going on in the pictures. Jan Brett also uses a lot of border art, which tells a totally separate story from the one that the words tell. After they read through the whole story, they went back and told the story in the border art, which they loved.

Children Center's Playground

I observed the children from the Center out on the playground on Thursday February 26 from just after 3:00 until 3:30. It was a very interesting (and COLD!) experience, because it started to snow pretty hard at about 3:02 and since the kids already had their outdoor gear on, we took them outside anyway. Most of the children really loved it, running around and catching snowflakes on their tongues - when asked, they told me it tasted like snow...very cute. There was also a frozen "ice rink" in the playground that the kids were running and sliding on, even though Miss Megan told the afternoon preschool students not to do that. None of the kids were climbing on the actual equipment, because it was too slippery. All the kids were playing together - it seemed like all the outdoor activities were sort of all-inclusive. About 20 minutes into it, one of the little girls fell on the ice and I ended up holding onto her for most of the rest of the time, which caused many of her little friends to gravitate towards us. Many of them were very uncomfortable and cold at this point, so I just tried to distract them by chattering about pets and whatever else. Then one of the other teachers ran around and invited them to chase her, which they loved. After about a half hour, the kids were taken back inside because they were so cold - and so were the teachers!