To energize students we circled up around the room and quickly went around the room recalling our favorite memories of recess/playground as an elementary student. Students recalled using their imagination often, playing on slides, swinging from bars, playing tag, and the excitement of kickball.
Our current playground consists of a parking lot with a few four-squares, three leaning basketball goals on a small pad of concrete, two tether ball poles, and one large gazebo. The students noted positives about our current playground:There is ample room with a huge field and outdoor classroom with many paths. The gazebo is beautiful and was built by our technical school students. There are three basketball goals and always games going. But the problems the students came up with were interesting:
- Basketball court is not level
- tether balls are always flat
- weather determines if you go out
- gazebo doesn't drain, muddy, puddles
- boring
- too many people at once sometimes
- "Cliff" or ledge students have to stay away from
- time too short
- not something for everyone
- four-square problems, because of cars, parking lot
- no equipment