Playing by the Pergola

 Since the beginning of school classrooms across the whole building have been able to play out on the playscape, but it is a lot different than it has ever been. In an attempt to reduce the amount of contact children have with one another and maintaining social distance guidelines, each class has a different section of the playscape they are responsible for that day. This has been so great for our kids! Not only are we able to safely play near other classrooms, but it also gives the kids a chance to expand their play schemes rather than engaging in the same play day after day. 

Not every area of the playscape is highly preferred by the Pine kids. Because we only get to visit places like the sand, the slide, or the cave once every two weeks the kids are sometimes upset and have a hard time engaging in play in certain roped off areas. One challenging area has been at the top of the playscape under the pergola and in the musical garden. 

Today, on the other hand, T & N found a way to play together using some of the coveted black rocks and construction trucks. T loaded up one of the dump trucks with the rocks, pushed it over to the hill, and then gave it a shove to watch it gently roll down. He giggled and as he watched the rocks tumble around. The noise and the game itself ended up catching N's eye! 

He quickly ran to the bottom of the hill to catch the truck! The two then worked together to get it back up and play again. The game only lasted a few minutes, but both boys were engaged and purposefully playing with one another. It was so great to see such a natural interaction! 

In areas that are less preferred we often see kids wandering or engaging in inappropriate behavior. Sometimes we, as adults, see this as boredom. In hopes to try and reframe our way of thinking, we can begin by looking at new ways to engage the kids. Instead of thinking that they are bored or having an "off day" we can look to see how else we can engage them and expand their play schemes even in nonpreferred spaces.