Unstructured Recess Success Based on Enriching Environment
September 2009
By Katie Anderson
Pine River Journal – Pine River, MN
One of the parking lots will provide unstructured recess activities at Eagle View Elementary School.
The parking lot where school buses drop off and pick up students will now be used for Eagle View’s unstructured recess program called Peaceful Playgrounds.
Colorfully painted games now adorn the formerly unadorned lot, including a number and alphabet line, four-square and bean bag tosses, and it will eventually have a map of the United States.
“The best thing about the these games is that they are both educational and fun at the same time.”
A teacher can bring their class out and use the number line in a math lesson or the map in a geography lesson,” said Deanne Trottier, a second-grade teacher at Eagle View and a member of the Playground Committee.
The whole concept of the Peaceful Playground is to give students more options for guided playtime as opposed to a completely unstructured recess.
Trottier said Eagle View Elementary School currently does not have enough playground equipment to accommodate all of the students during recess; therefore, some students who were bored found activities to keep them busy that were not always acceptable.
Another positive thing about the Peaceful Playground is that it incorporates many different lessons and values that will be taught to students.
Teachers, the school’s social worker, Eileen Nelson, and physical education teachers will all teach students different lessons about the playground.
During their physical education class the first week of school, the students will be taught how to play all the different games.
The games are adapted so that all different age groups will enjoy the games. This teaches students to follow a consistent set of rules.
The school social worker and teachers will also work with students to teach them how important it is to try new games and include everyone.
Nelson will work with students to teach them how to properly deal with conflicts on the playground.
Other schools that have used the Peaceful Playground program have seen the occurrence of negative issues on their playgrounds decrease since starting the program, and Eagle View is hoping to have similar results, Trottier said.
The Peaceful Playground program costs about $4,000 and many different groups donated money to help make the playground a reality.
The groups included the Patriot Foundation, Target, Crow Wing Power and the PTA.
Trottier is excited about what the Peaceful Playground will do for Eagle View.
Pine River Journal – Eagle View boasts Peaceful Playground
