Let the Children Play

They need a routine. Otherwise, they get very confused. Five or six minutes of practice at anyone or thing is long enough. Obviously, the older the students, the longer the attention span. One of the first things I learned was that gym and lunch held great significance. I, as the gym teacher, became a "movie star" overnight. I made myself a premise early in my career as an elementary physical education teacher that I would not talk too much. I would LET THE CHILDREN PLAY.

And as I watched the little children stand in line for the bus, stand in line for lunch, and walk in line through the hall, I vowed that in gym class, they would not spend a lot of time standing in line. I would LET THE CHILDREN PLAY.

This book is based on the premise-LET THE CHILDREN PLAY. We managed our class using the four Cs-cooperation, competition, consideration of others, and control of the self. The activities are selected first because they are fun. The second premise-have as many children as active as possible at one time. This was accomplished through the use of small group games, stations, and circuits. The third premise-all children will be treated fairly and affirmatively. All children are the leaders, all children get to be the taggers, all children get to have a turn, and all children have an equal opportunity to learn the fundamentals in all areas taught. The fourth premise-to teach children to compete, to practice, to persevere. The concept of doing the best you can and respecting yourself and others is a necessary thing to teach.

The fifth premise-to teach the children how to cooperate together. The big question is this: If we call children names or make fun of them, will they perform better or worse in the activity? We learn to share and help each other in all of our activities.

The activities are based on ten years of experience teaching beginning skills and games. The children decided what activities should be included in this book. It is packed full of the things they like to do.

LET THE CHILDREN PLAY is a compilation of activities that work with average, normal children and is useful to the classroom teacher as well as the specialist.