Description
This Playground Support and Recess Games curriculum is designed for 8 social-emotional lessons that support the experience of students at recess. With direct instruction, you can improve your students’ skills around engaging with others in play.
Over the past several years our children have been impacted by a number of factors, including COVID impacts on schooling, increased technology use, and increased structured after-school activities, which have resulted in a need for more social-emotional development around play. Children struggle with inviting others to play with them or asking to join other kids in play. Children struggle with compromising on a play idea and sticking with the play plan. Children need support in understanding what and how they can play at recess.
All of these issues are addressed in thoughtful and easy-prep lessons. These lessons support children in playing successfully at recess with others, in addition to other friendship skills, like compromising, problem-solving, including others, and being a good sport.
These lessons could be used with the whole group or in small groups. This group is ideal for students in kindergarten and first grade but has also been used in second grade.
What are the Lessons for this Playground Support and Recess Games Curriculum?
- Introduction of Playground
- Initiating Play
- Inviting Others to Join
- Welcoming and Not Welcoming Non-Verbal Communication
- Compromising on Play Idea
- Flexible Play Idea
- Speaking Up and Conflict Resolution
- Good Sportsmanship
What else is included in the Playground Support and Recess Games Curriculum?
- Caregiver Letter
- Playing visuals
- Visuals for asking to play and including others in play
- Playing and recess games puzzle pieces
- Welcoming and not-welcoming sorting activity
- I can compromise activity
- How to make a play plan visual
- I was flexible handout
- Recess plan (3 options)
- Before recess visual
- A bug and a wish activity
- Good sportsmanship and poor sportsmanship activity
- Book suggestions
- 2-minute game ideas and directions
- Recess game ideas and directions
- Cooperative game ideas and directions
- If-then guide for recess staff
- Reflection sheets for misbehaviors
- Recess plan sheets
What Skills Does This Playground Support and Recess Games Curriculum Address?
- Students will learn what activities are available to them at recess and how to play them.
- Students will practice asking to join others in play.
- Students will practice including others in play.
- Students will learn to understand non-verbal language of their peers.
- Students will learn how to show welcoming non-verbal language to their peers.
- Students will learn different ways to compromise with peers.
- Students will learn how to come up with a play plan with their peers.
- Students will learn how to solve problems with their peers.
- Students will learn what makes a good sport.
