Play Helps Children - Essay Example

Research study to know children’s attitudes to their school playgrounds Introduction Play can commonly be defined as activities of children consisting of a range of self-chosen activities according to their interests which gives them pleasure and satisfaction. Play helps children to develop habits and interests that form a firm basis for healthy activity. Pellegrini and Smith (1998) comprehensively reviewed the value of active play and came to the conclusion that not only there are benefits in terms of cardio-vascular and physical fitness but it also contributes to the social and cognitive development of the young child. Given space and resources help children to promote their physical development through play that draws upon their fine gross motor skills. Children spend a great deal of their childhood time in schools and school grounds. More often even after school hours home atmosphere seems not to be conducive to active games and the streets are usually unsafe for children’s play due to traffic congestion and pace. On a daily basis it’s only during the recess and lunch breaks children are provided with the opportunity to participate in physical activity. However from past few years it is seen that in the school curriculum much emphasis is given only to academic excellence. Dale et al. (2000. p.240) found that “the time allotted to physical education is decreasing due to budgetary constraints and administrative decisions to support other academic areas”. It is globally evident that in the race to achieve academic excellence much of the recess time is reduced to stress upon academic teaching. But recent studies showed that student participation in physical education was declining and even during recess periods children were seen spending more and more time in indoors. Also even after the school hours children showed no inclination to compensate for the physical activity missed out during the school hours (John Evan: P.53). Limited access to outdoor plays has made children to spend excessive time on watching screenplays rather than involving in outdoor plays. Hence by merely providing opportunities for children to engage in free play has seen to have lessened the ill effects of their sedentary life. Playgrounds According to Titman (1994 p.70) ‘school grounds are generally outdoor spaces totally dedicated to children’s use unlike any other external public parks or spaces where children have no choice other than going out into school ground/playgrounds at the playtime. School grounds provide an environment to which all children have access, regardless of personal or individual circumstances’. Playgrounds are highly significant domains in the school, where playtime provides opportunities to have fun and pleasure, a break from schoolwork and most importantly it is the best part of the school being with friends and trying to play the maximum. However for many it is also a place of boredom, loneliness or fear. It’s very common to see any schoolyard or play playgrounds during lunchtime to be a hive of activity with children engaged in a myriad of games. Due to reduced recess/lunchtime the playground where ‘playtime’, ‘break’ or ‘recess’ happens has been described by scholars on both sides of the Atlantic as one of the ‘forgotten space’ of the school (Blatchford,1989, p.4). Global changes in playgrounds As far as adult mind set is concerned children in playground are always known for their chaotic and random behavior and recent trend is that playground injuries and accidents are no more considered, as simply part of the play. Rules and restrictions such as-- no running or jumping off playground equipments, fighting, climbing, playing ball games near school buildings and so on, are induced to reduce the like hood of accidents and injury. Schools offering more sanitized play environments are of latest trend. According to Titman (1994, p.23) ‘manufactured provisions which claim to substitute for children’s loss to free access to the external environment has resulted in the creation of places which too often provide little more than amusement and diversion’. School grounds having been designed to reduce the likeliness of injuries/accidents has shown to be less stimulative in terms of what it offers to children and also failed to provide the environmental experience. In view of safety measures most of the schools have principally removed movable play equipments such as swings, see-saws, roundabouts which do not conform to the safety, standards and/or they have shown to be the cause of accidents and injury. Case study In this context a survey was conducted to study children’s attitudes to their school playgrounds. The study was conducted at the Black Hill Primary School located at the north end of Ballarat as Ballarat has many large schools with large playgrounds Black Hill Primary School viewed from outside seems to have a small play ground raising the curiosity to see if the children’s thoughts mirrored mine. The school has ample equipments, with a playground quiet small enough for track events and ball games which has a basket ball/tennis/netball court, also a sand pit, slides, swings, monkey bars, ladders, bridges and a recently installed flying fox. As a readiness for the upcoming summer school has erected shade sails over a majority of the play equipments to protect the children from the elements. However as a safety measure children were allowed to play and run only when the courts were dry. Sample for survey Twenty one children of grade IV class was chosen to participate in the survey as they were able to write the responses to the questions like what type of games they played, how they learnt them and also because they had been in the school for quiet some years. Survey A questionnaire shown below consisting of six questions was given to Twenty one children to know their attitudes towards their school playgrounds. Q1. Are you a boy or girl? Q2. What do you like about your school playground? Q3. What don’t you like about your school play ground? Q4. If you could change anything in your playground, what would you change and why? Q5. What games you play at recess? Q6. Who do you play with at recess? The responses to the questionnaire are documented as shown in Survey I and Survey II. Survey I Primary school children’s attitudes to their school playgrounds Q1. Are you a boy or girl? Ronnie: Girl Mandi: Girl Lauren: Girl Keely: Girl Kate: Girl Holly: Girl Ebony: Girl Cholc: Girl Klina: Girl Amber: Girl Q2. What do you like about your school playground? Ronnie: The flying fox because I can do it one handed. Mandi: I like the flying fox and I like the ladder because it’s hard to climb. Lauren: I like the spider web and the new shade sails. Keely: I like the shade sails and the flying fox and I like the monkey bars. Kate: The spider web because it’s good for climbing on. Holly: I like the flying fox and I like the new shade sails because now when it rains we can still run around on the playground. Ebony: I like the flying fox and I like the slide. Cholc: The new shade sails because now we won’t get sunburns. Klina: I like the new shade sails and the flying fox and I like the monkey bars. Amber: I like the spider web and the monkey bars. Q3. What don’t you like about your school play ground? Ronnie: The monkey bars because they give you blisters. Mandi: I don’t like the monkey bars because some girls don’t let you play in them. Lauren: I don’t like slide because it’s too small and people push in and people get hurt all the time. Keely: We don’t have enough trees and don’t have a garden to play in. Kate: I don’t like the fireman pole because you get blisters on your hands. Holly: I don’t like the fireman pole because you burn your hands on it. Ebony: I don’t like how small our playground is and I don’t like how small the sandpit is. Cholc : I don’t like the ladder because it’s not safe and people hurt themselves. Klina: I don’t like the ladder because it’s hard to climb and people fall and hurt themselves all the time. Amber: I don’t like the flying because when you run past you can hit your head. Q4. If you could change anything in your playground, what would you change and why? Ronnie: I would add another flying fox so that two kids can get on at the same time. Mandi: I would change the size of the playgrounds because it’s too small and I would have a rule where everybody gets a turn. Lauren: I would not change anything because people like different things in the playground. Keely: I would make it bigger and put in a veggie patch so we could cook food at that we have grown at school. Kate: I would change so that the spider web is only for grade 3 and 4. Holly: I would plant flowers so that we could smell them and pick them and put them into bunches. Ebony: I would make the flying fox go heaps faster. Cholc: I would change the ladder and put in another flying fox. Klina: I would change the ladder and make it safer. Amber: I would have more bars and I would have some animals at the back that we could feed and pat. Q5. What games you play at recess? Ronnie: Cars, boats and ships in the sandpit. Mandi: Tiggy and hide and seek. Lauren: I don’t normally play anything. Keely: I play tiggy and I play on the playground and I sit on the grass. Kate: I play spy games with my friends. Holly: I play tiggy and pretends. Ebony: Footy and tiggy. Cholc: Tiggy or I play on the playground Klina: Tiggy and hanging on the bars. Amber: I play spy games and hide and seek. Q6. Who do you play with at recess? Ronnie: I play with boys and girls Mandi: Boys and girls. Lauren: I only play with girls. Keely: I play with girls and boys. Kate: I only play with girls. Holly: I play with girls. Ebony: I play with boys because they play fun games. Cholc: Kate or on my own. Klina: I only play with girls. Amber: I play with boys and girls. Survey II Primary school children’s attitudes to their school playgrounds Q1. Are you a boy or girl? Sam: Boy Toby: Boy Steven: Boy Otto: Boy Oscar: Boy Nathan: Boy Mick: Boy Liam: Boy Chris: Boy Chan: Boy Ben: Boy Q2. What do you like about your school playground? Sam: I like the slide, the spider web and the flying fox. Toby: I like the flying fox and I like climbing on the ladder. Steven: I like the monkey bars, they are fun to hang on. Otto: I like the flying fox because it’s fast and fun. Oscar: I like the flying fox, the slide, the new shade sails and the climbing frames. Nathan: I like the new shade sails and the flying fox. Mick: I like that there is lots of things to play on and I like that is very colorful. Liam: I like the new shade sails, the pole and the ladder because they are hard to climb. Chris: I like the flying fox, the bridge and the new shade sails. Chan: I like the flying fox, the monkey bars and the slide. Ben: I like the flying fox, I like the slide, I like the new shade sails. Q3. What don’t you like about your school play ground? Sam: That we are not allowed to play tiggy. They say it’s too rough. Toby: The playground is too small and it’s crowded. Steven: I don’t like the flying fox because people don’t get off it Otto: The slide because it’s not long enough. Oscar; I don’t like the monkey bars or the spider web because that’s where the girls play. Nathan: I don’t like all the climbing stuff. Mick: I don’t like when we play tiggy we have to dodge heaps of poles. Liam: The chains, they hurt your hands and the monkey bars. Chris: Our school playground is so good, that there is nothing I don’t like. Chan: I don’t like the new sails because we can’t kick the footy near the playground any more. Ben: The bridge because it’s a bit dangerous and you can jam your fingers. Q4. If you could change anything in your playground, what would you change and why? Sam: I would change the climbing wall and put in some more swings. Toby: I would make it bigger because we don’t have enough room to run. Steven: I would change the ladder to a climbing wall. Otto: The slide because it’s not long enough. Oscar; I would change the slide and make it bigger. Nathan: Everything and get a big brand new playground. Mick: I would make things higher to climb, we don’t have hard things to climb. Liam: I would make the slide bigger because it’s too small. Chris: Get something that we can sit in and spin around. Chan: I would make the playground 100 times bigger. Ben: I bridge I would make it a wooden bridge and make it safer, if we don’t make it safer they will take it off us. Q5. What games you play at recess? Sam: Footy, soccer, tiggy (even though we’re not allowed). Toby: I play tiggy and football. Steven: I play tiggy. Otto: Tiggy. Oscar; I play tiggy and brandy and football. Nathan: Football and tiggy. Mick: Tiggy, football and I play in the playground. Liam: Tiggy, brandy, footy. Chris: Tiggy and cars in the sandpit. Chan: Football, tiggy and brandy. Ben: Tiggy. Q6. Who do you play with at recess? Sam: I only play with boys. Toby: I only play with boys. Steven: Boys and girls. Otto: I only play with boys. Oscar; I only play with boys. Nathan: Boys and girls. Mick: I play with grade 4 boys and sometime football with the grade 2 boys. Liam: I only play with boys. Chris: Boys and girls. Chan: I only play with boys. Ben: Boys and girls. Findings from our Survey The survey we conducted and also many research clearly implies that children love to play on and with the equipments which they can change, move and manipulate. Children love to build cubbies and play with balls, bats, hoops, ropes, timber and so on. Children clearly expressed strongest need for more space filled with swings, garden and climbing apparatus. There is always a wanting for green trees, garden, water, animals to play with. Children were absolutely safety conscious and aware that certain equipments were dangerous or could cause injury by the way they handled them. Provision of shelter was another welcoming factor where the value of it was realized. Children rarely commented about the provisions for seats. Suggestions for improvement Well planned physical education, sports programs and active playgrounds are always interrelated. During physical education if children are introduced to a variety of activities involving ropes, hoops, bats, balls and so on, they learn to use these equipments safely on their own which not only provides them an opportunity to practice and extend their skills but also motivates them to be active and foster co-operative play. Children strongly enjoy track events, ball games and running plays. Inadequate play area effectively eliminates such lot of activities. Hence it is advisable for the schools to devise rules about how the available space is to be used. Titman (1994, p.138) says “the effect of the design of the place where children play on the way they behave cannot be over-emphasized, the potential of even the most wonderful environment can be diminished by the rules which restrict the way it can be used and, conversely well-managed playtimes can greatly extend the potential of quite barren and uninspiring ground”. The provision of equipment must be viewed as an investment in children’s health. If such change cannot be expected it must be made sure that children must not compete for resources. Interactive discussion with the children and making them understand about ideal play provisions not only brings in active participation but also responsibility for the equipment. Provision of seating arrangements in the playgrounds must be made with respect to social spaces where it facilitates opportunities for interaction and engagements. According to Robin Moore “we have no business making policies and spending money on facilities for children until we have an understanding about what parts of the environment children actually use and why”(Moore,1986:xvi). Finally, it is the young inhabitants who are the masters of the playgrounds and what they expect in their playgrounds must be much emphasized and respected. Conclusion To conclude School grounds represent a valuable community resource where it should be designed such that it not only attracts children to keep them active but also be successful in meeting their needs in terms of play. Where ever possible it should offer them with multiple functions and uses, so that maximum possible benefit is achieved. References Blatchford, P. 1989. Playtime in the primary school: Problems and Improvements. NFER-Nelson, London. Dale, D., Corbin, C., & Dale, K. 2000. Restricting opportunities to be active during school time: Do children compensate by increasing physical activity levels after school? Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 71(3), 240-248. Evans, J. 2003. Changes to (primary) school recess and their effect on childrens physical activity: an Australian perspective. Journal of Physical Education New Zealand, Vol 36, No 1, pp. 53-62, Physical Education New Zealand Inc, New Zealand Moore, R. 1986. Childhood’s domain-play and place in child development. CroomHelm Ltd. Pellegrini, A. D., & Smith, P. K. 1998. Physical activity play: The nature and function of a neglected aspect of play. Child Development, 69(3), 577-598. Titman, W. 1994. Special places, special people: the hidden curriculum of school games. Learning through Landscapes :WWF, UK. Read More