Ensuring that your child knows what to do during school recess periods can affect his peer group and social life more than you may know. Teaching simple rules and activities will make inclusion more likely, make your child more confident and guaranty you will have less free time than you thought you might this summer. Suck it up, put on your tennis shoes and get out in the yard.
1. Jump Rope: It’s not as easy as it seems. For children who haven’t been shown the ropes, it can be extremely frustrating to not know how to turn or jump the classroom rope. Although it sounds improbable, there are children who don’t get that they have to lift their feet up when the rope comes down in front of them. They just stand and let it smack their ankles. Back up a bit. Teach kids first how to hop. Second, work on reaction time. Try yelling, “Hop!” wait, “Hop!” wait, “Hop!” and see how long it takes for words to make it to feet. If it takes more than a second, it’s too early to add the rope. In that case, get some of those cds of children’s songs inviting kids to join along in the actions. When they get the concept of anticipation, bring out the clothesline again.
2. Another timing related activity is catching a ball. If you toss your child a ball and it bounces off his chest, it should be obvious he doesn’t get it. Show him how to physically get body and hands in front of the ball to at least make some contact. Start with a beach ball. Stand about four inches away and basically hand the ball to your child. Move back about three inches and do the same. Do this until your child is out of direct reach and you have to toss it. When there is a successful catch from ten feet away, move to phase two. Get a Styrofoam ball slightly smaller than the beach ball. Stick a really skinny dowel or pointer in it and hold that end. Create its path to your child’s waiting hands. Think back on the good old days when you flew that spoonful of olive green baby food into lips not sure they wanted to open. It will take time, but be lavish with the praise.
“Great! You’re facing the right way!”
“I love the way you are picking your hands up when the ball comes flying at you.”
“Fantastic, now uncover your eyes and see if you can do it again.”
3. Spend some time at the playground your child will actually be playing on in fall. Teach him or her how to climb, slide, hang and swing. Believe it or not, there are kids who will sit on the swing and just wait, dangle legged. You have to show her how to move her limbs to get it started. You have to make sure your child can begin independently. Also, she needs to know not to let go and do the dare devil fly forward into the dirt to end her ride. Slow down, get off, keep teachers uninvolved. Don’t teach her how to spin around really fast after twisting the chains, either. Can’t do that in school. It will put someone’s eye out.
4. Teach your child how to hang upside down from the lower bars. The girls, especially, seem to love this. They do this all the time. Have her approach the bar, pull herself up to a sitting position and then coach her as to how to drop down and hang from the crook of the knees. If she can spin around the bar while hanging from one knee and then end up in a sitting position, she’ll be a total star. Boys think this is sissy stuff and will voice it. Make them try it. It's hilarious.
5. The slide. Kids have to go up the ladders one at a time, hanging on to the rail with both hands. When at the top, no leaning over and screaming at friends. That scares the teachers. Just sit and go. Don’t stop to talk half way down, congregate at the top or remain at the bottom for more than just a second or they'll have footprints on their backs from the kid who came down right after them. Imagine there is always someone waiting.
6. Simple skills and rules for team sports. If you don’t know them, Google. If your child is a hot head (and you know it by now) encourage him not to play team games until he can handle people disagreeing with him or his side losing. Tell kids to establish or review the rules of the game before the actual game. Make sure they know people have different ways of playing, and that screaming in another person’s face isn’t a way to negotiate.
Maybe the Olympics will inspire enthusiasm for sports with something other than a football, a beer and a plate of nachos.
(Brett, if you’re reading this…please come back. It’s not too late.)
