When some hear the words play they picture toys or kids or both everywhere all over, things half left out,
messes and wacky stories, simply put chaos. What I see is collaboration, negotiating skills, force and
motion lessons, quantitative thinking, taking care of one’s needs, asking others for help, story building,
and so much more. So then the question arises how do we bring this emphatic response to being in the
classroom. While I do not claim to be an expert here are some things I have recently attempted to help
bring an hour of play into my classroom time.
messes and wacky stories, simply put chaos. What I see is collaboration, negotiating skills, force and
motion lessons, quantitative thinking, taking care of one’s needs, asking others for help, story building,
and so much more. So then the question arises how do we bring this emphatic response to being in the
classroom. While I do not claim to be an expert here are some things I have recently attempted to help
bring an hour of play into my classroom time.
1- Play in the morning: Students have 10-15 minutes to play first thing in the morning, after attendance
and announcements. This allows them time to have social interactions that I was trying to stifle originally
in order to get to content. They get to play and according to a recent podcast I heard by Don Wettrick
where he was talking with Dr Brynn Winegard an expert in the field of business and neuroscience, but
speaking about Brain based leadership and innovation. Paraphrased, “The average attention span of this
generation is approximately 3 sec…” and paraphrased “that research shows students brain are most
ready to work after play..” These two reasons alone just help support my reason to starting the day with
play. Additionally, I have noticed that when it is time to learn they more on task, work collaboratively to
solve their problems, and voice level is better maintained. Now not all of this is directly correlated to play
it also has to do with procedures set in place prior, but previous to incorporating play in the am I had
more issues with their work time then I do presently.
and announcements. This allows them time to have social interactions that I was trying to stifle originally
in order to get to content. They get to play and according to a recent podcast I heard by Don Wettrick
where he was talking with Dr Brynn Winegard an expert in the field of business and neuroscience, but
speaking about Brain based leadership and innovation. Paraphrased, “The average attention span of this
generation is approximately 3 sec…” and paraphrased “that research shows students brain are most
ready to work after play..” These two reasons alone just help support my reason to starting the day with
play. Additionally, I have noticed that when it is time to learn they more on task, work collaboratively to
solve their problems, and voice level is better maintained. Now not all of this is directly correlated to play
it also has to do with procedures set in place prior, but previous to incorporating play in the am I had
more issues with their work time then I do presently.
2-Play and choice in their work: Students are given menus of their small group center activities for the
week, we call them menus. These menu’s have 4 must do centers and 4 may do centers. The only rule
is the Must do’s need to all be done before you can move onto the may do’s . Students are then given
1 hour and a half to complete their may do’s in any order they want, as long as they accomplish the task.
Often times May do tasks will be a purposeful game or skill for them to work on to help them master or
work on a skill in the subject area. As I introduced menu’s I kept it easy and work light so students got to
play faster. At this point of the year students are completing several time intensive tasks and still able to
get to their May do’s. Their productivity has increased in the matter of months.
week, we call them menus. These menu’s have 4 must do centers and 4 may do centers. The only rule
is the Must do’s need to all be done before you can move onto the may do’s . Students are then given
1 hour and a half to complete their may do’s in any order they want, as long as they accomplish the task.
Often times May do tasks will be a purposeful game or skill for them to work on to help them master or
work on a skill in the subject area. As I introduced menu’s I kept it easy and work light so students got to
play faster. At this point of the year students are completing several time intensive tasks and still able to
get to their May do’s. Their productivity has increased in the matter of months.
3-Time outside: I really enjoy the sun, and sunny days are perfect for students to learn, so when
introducing a new topic in math (at the end of the day when most K’s just want to go home) I take them
outside with chalk and we learn the concept outside on the sidewalk, or we play games like duck duck
goose to help with counting and subtraction skills. Students can then grasp the concept in a kinesthetic
or tactile approach which is how most littles learn. Our school recently created an outdoor classroom,
that I am super excited to take my class to for our learning adventures.
introducing a new topic in math (at the end of the day when most K’s just want to go home) I take them
outside with chalk and we learn the concept outside on the sidewalk, or we play games like duck duck
goose to help with counting and subtraction skills. Students can then grasp the concept in a kinesthetic
or tactile approach which is how most littles learn. Our school recently created an outdoor classroom,
that I am super excited to take my class to for our learning adventures.
4-Ketchup Time: This is a time when students that may have not completed all their must do’s can get
that work done and students that are done can have free play this is usually for about 30 minutes at the
end of the day. While I have found quite a few road bumps with this one, I am also trying some skills to
help students learn to ignore distractions and still get to their time. I have recently purchased some sand
timers on Amazon which I tell the students that need to work that once the sand is out they are done for
today. I usually only hand them a 5 minute timer. Then these littles still get to play so they see the
reward for work completion. (Which is not the goal just the happy outcome).
that work done and students that are done can have free play this is usually for about 30 minutes at the
end of the day. While I have found quite a few road bumps with this one, I am also trying some skills to
help students learn to ignore distractions and still get to their time. I have recently purchased some sand
timers on Amazon which I tell the students that need to work that once the sand is out they are done for
today. I usually only hand them a 5 minute timer. Then these littles still get to play so they see the
reward for work completion. (Which is not the goal just the happy outcome).
In using play in these ways, I am still able to get content in, attend to student needs, and help them
learn important social and life skills in the process. I will still admit there are some kinks I need to
work out based on individual students needs, but all of my students are benefiting from at least one of
the above ways of play in the classroom. I also do not think I will ever go back to how I used to teach,
my goal is to always innovate and change my teaching to best benefit my students that year.
learn important social and life skills in the process. I will still admit there are some kinks I need to
work out based on individual students needs, but all of my students are benefiting from at least one of
the above ways of play in the classroom. I also do not think I will ever go back to how I used to teach,
my goal is to always innovate and change my teaching to best benefit my students that year.
