recess today

Second-grade recess is hairy at this time of year.  For one thing, there's not as much outdoor recess, and sometimes it's "blacktop only" because of the snow or mud conditions.  For another, the Great 2nd Grade Shift is in full swing.  Here's a summary of what's going on cognitively and socially inside kids who are turning 8:

And I'm afraid it's true what you're hearing about the effect of 2D screentime on children's brains.  Kids are now generally less able to play with peers in ways that don't have external structure, less apt to improvise, less skilled in the collaborative negotiation that underpins pretend play.

I recently had to engineer an extra recess so that a complicated and loaded wedding scenario could be played out.  Once I got the important questions out in the open ("Do you want to be IN the wedding, watch the wedding, or ignore it?") I sat back and let it roll.  Very few kids wanted to be IN it in the end, but those who did discovered that they could get "married" and then go off and play house and car and pets and shopping and parties.  They were surprised and exhilarated to discover new collaborators and new identities. It was totally worth the "lost" 20 minutes of instructional time. 😏

The following poem was also influenced by a date night with my spouse at an Improvisational Comedy workshop.  Here's to "Yes, and..."! 

Recess Today

“I’m tired of basketball,” I said,

“and tag and running everywild.

Let’s play Families instead.”

My friend Benita stopped and smiled.

“Let’s make our house under the slide!

You be the mom; I’ll be the child.”

“Yes,” I said,” and let’s ask Clyde

to be our dog!” So then we piled

some woodchips up as best we could

and made a bed for Clyde the dog.

We played that we lived in the woods

and hunted berries in the fog.

Logan asked if she could play.

She helped us drag a heavy log

to make a couch, and then she stayed.

We read her Lego catalog.  

Our family grew again when Chance

knocked on the slide and said, “Hello.

I’m Grandpa visiting from France.”

“Come in,” we said. “We have to go

out to a wedding by the lake.”

The seesaw was a car we borrowed.

Of course the wedding all was fake.

I hope we play again tomorrow.

draft ©Heidi Mordhorst

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Perhaps you'd now like to scroll down for my surprise midweek post, "Day of Service." The roundup today is hosted by Tara at Going to Walden. Borrow a seesaw and get on over to somewhere in the world!