Teaching 102: Avoid Recess Issues? Go Play!

It’s a Friday, and you’ve got a terrific math lesson planned. All you need to do is move your group of math geniuses from where they line up after recess back to your classroom. But as you have been dreading, there’s another argument between two young men on the playground. What if someone hadn’t “started something” to begin with?

After years and years of observing my students at recess, I have made a valuable discovery.  I’ve learned that the answer to eliminating most recess issues lies in one very simple solution: Go play with your kids from time to time. And if you’ve ever wondered how using recess a little differently can strengthen the rest of your day, summer school is a perfect time to do it. There are fewer restrictions on time, and let’s face it, we’re a lot less stressed out. 

Here’s how I play with students purposefully, why I love it, and why it makes teaching that math lesson after recess so much easier!

Assess Recess Strengths and Weaknesses by Playing

Arrange with your colleagues while you go rogue and go have fun! Play all the games you can. Don’t worry, the kids will love you joining in. Every so often, take a break and look around with a fresh set of eyes. This is your recess assessment. You are looking for the good, the bad, and the ugly.  

For example, in my last recess assessment, I saw that there was one large game where a vast majority of students, all boys, were far too serious about their pickup game of soccer. Then, l noticed that there was a scattering of smaller games like four-square, tetherball, basketball, or children on the bars. Finally, I saw a consistent, smaller cluster of students, some by themselves, sitting, eating, or simply wandering around. 

This told me that students often stayed in the same game/activity with little inter-movement and little mixing of genders.  

Set Expectations: Post and Display Student Created Norms, Game Rules, and Expectations

Once you’ve assessed, it’s time to tailor to the needs of your playground. While playing soccer, for example, I realized that my very presence in a game began to provide structure and agreed-upon norms that kids were lacking. Very quickly I realized that their aggressive play was due to having no agreed-upon rules. I decided to help my soccer lovers create “field rules” in real time. Things like how a proper throw-in looks when a ball goes out of bounds, and what happens when the ball hits a hand, or as so often happens, a hand hits the ball. 

I found the need for these field rules carried over into basketball and other games like four-square. With me popping into games, providing structure, kids began to argue less. Even after I moved on to a different game, the kids were still less argumentative, played more, and lined up with far less to bicker over when the bell rang. 

You could also ask those most serious about their game to create posters and to display them in your recess area. Year to year, these “field rules” can be updated by student leaders and taught to new students at the start of the year. 

Create Inclusivity By Changing The Game Up

You may also find that certain games are not quite as inclusive as you’d care to see. This alienates kids who otherwise would like to play, and it also leads to issues with bored kids. This is yet another reason your presence while at play is so important. 

For instance, if the boys have dominated a large game like basketball (as was the case at my school), changing up the game can help. Instead of a typical basketball game, I found that suggesting a game of PIG or HORSE brought a variety of kids to the court that otherwise wouldn’t. More girls, students with special needs, and sometimes kids who normally would just sit were often eager to join in. In four-square, I “houseruled” one court where up to 5 people could be in a square at once. This made the game feel silly to the kids, and to many, that meant a low-stakes game where they felt comfortable. A less serious game allowed a broader acceptance of students with a variety of physical abilities.

 Try Running Co-operative Tournaments, Games, Or Activities

One of the most pressing needs I saw was that most games were gender-specific. Many students I spoke with wished to play but felt like “that game is for boys” or “that game is only for girls.”  As a result, I decided to alter my requirements for the classroom soccer and basketball tournaments. Teams from then on would require a boy captain, a girl captain, and an equal number of players of both genders. This made things difficult for classrooms to field teams at first, and that was the point. With teacher support, I began to see students of both genders practicing together at recess for their upcoming matches. Best of all, when the matches ended, students of both genders were still playing together during their unstructured time.

If you do not have time to run something as massive as a tournament, and you see a need to mix students up in some way, consider teaching new games during recess that anyone would enjoy. Here is a great site with some of my absolute favorites for doing this.

Become “Student Asset Oriented”: Offer Leadership Opportunities 

Once you embed yourself a little in play, you will notice that among the collective, there are students naturally taking leadership roles. I have found that often the students in the most trouble after recess are the ones most trying to lead others during recess. Instead of continuing the cycle, why not consider doing what our school did and offer a recess leadership program? If your school has a budget for it, there are many programs out there like this one to try. If budgets are lacking funds, here are eleven great examples of how to go about doing it for free. 

Change “Duty” Culture

You may think that this kind of activity would not be feasible given your requirements of duty. If that is so, you may consider that recess isn’t just for kids; it’s your only break until lunch as well. Discussing your strategy to minimize issues at recess with your principal may be all you need to do to gather support. In other cases, you may need to explain to administrations and duty staff you work with what your end goals are. Perhaps, over time and with fewer issues, you may even convince another adult to enjoy recess as much as you and your kids do.