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That ‘Play in Balance’ report and the importance of play in schools
I have just seen the new report Play in Balance – that polled 12,000 parents worldwide and revealed that three-quarters of six- to 11-year-olds spend less than an hour outside – in non-school time – and that, in the UK, 75 per cent of parents said their child preferred to play virtual sports games on a screen rather than real sports outside.
One of my popular training courses is ‘Powerfully Positive Lunchtimes and Playtimes and Calm Dining Halls’ and I when I visit schools for training I spend the lunchtime outside with the children – the best place to see what works and what doesn’t in the playground – and always make time to listen to the children through Circle Time – as having their input is vital for whole school approach to playtimes! In England, some schools consider using PE and Sport Premium funding to boost physical exercise in the playground – as schools are asked to use the funding for schools to ‘make additional and sustainable improvements to the quality of PE and sport they offer by using the premium to develop or add to the PE and sport activities that your school already offers and/or make improvements now that will benefit pupils joining the school in future years.’
Play England summed it up perfectly when they said, “Through playing, children are creating their own culture, developing their abilities, exploring their creativity and learning about themselves, other people and the world around them. Children need and want to stretch and challenge themselves when they play. Play provision and play space that is stimulating and exciting allows children to encounter and learn about risk. This helps them to build confidence, learn skills and develop resilience at their own pace.” (Play England 2007)
So, to celebrate the spirit of play, this month we have a great competition to win two sets of my Pocket books – please see my competition blog for how to enter – these handy little books contain a wealth of games from Skipping Games to Crazes of the Week, and we have just added two new Pocket Books: Playground Games from Around the World (Volume 1 Africa and Asia – there are more volumes to follow!) and Pocket Wet Playtime Games (quite useful when those April showers come calling…)
Take a look at Jenny’s Playground Games resources and books.
CLICK HERE Powerfully Positive Playtimes Training
Website Editor’s Notes
- Jenny Mosley runs successful and transformative training conferences and courses for Early Years and Primary education. Courses focus upon improving social skills, positive behaviour for learning and Circle Time for social skills, as well as ‘Powerfully Positive Lunchtimes and Playtimes and ‘Calm Dining Halls’ training – CLICK HERE to see all forthcoming ‘Open’ training conferences for Early Years and primary that anyone can attend.
- For all other training enquiries – better behaviour for learning, improved social and communication skills, circle times, working with parents as partners and more, phone 01225 767157 or emailcircletime@jennymosley.co.uk or CLICK HERE
- See one of Jenny’s latest books ‘How to create Calm Dining Halls‘!
- Our webshop and catalogue are brimming with resources to products to help schools and life in the, assembly halls, classrooms, dining halls and playgrounds.