Recess Time

We got some more of that "White Stuff" as Molly calls it. She likes it and she ran outside and ran in a big circle. Seeing that circle got me to thinking. Back when I first started teaching we took students outside twice a day for a Recess. A break from the classroom to play and refresh themselves. It was a good time for them and there are good, sound educational reasons for doing so. The students would generally organize themselves to play certain games which would involve both boys and girls and would be athletic in nature and involve a lot of running and movement. The teachers on "recess duty" would supervise to make sure the games did not get to rough and out of hand so that no one got hurt. The games would sometimes change with the season In later years it seems that many times the activity changed. We had basketball hoops and a football field and the boys would play while the girls would socialize and sit on the swings or the jungle gyms. Sometimes they would just wander around the playground. A game of tag might get started but with the advent of "sports" on TV the character of the playground changed. I think the PE teachers had a lot to do with that also for they used the sports for their curriculum. But that is another story. I went to Wikipedia to share some of the games I remember the kids playing. There were many variations of Tag the one I remembered when I saw the circle in the snow was Fox and Geese

"A traditional type of line tag, sometimes played in snow, is Fox and geese. The fox starts at the centre of a spoked wheel, and the geese flee from the fox along the spokes and around the wheel. Geese that are tagged become foxes. The intersections of the spokes with the wheel are safe zones."

 

This was a form of "Tag' and required snow.  Another form of Tag was "What Time is is Mr. Fox?

One player is chosen to be Mr Fox. Mr Fox stands at the opposite end of the playing field from the other players, facing away from them. A call-and-response then takes place: all players except for Mr Fox chant in unison "What's the time, Mr Fox?", and Mr Fox will answer in one of the two ways:

1) Mr Fox may call a clock time (e.g., "3 o'clock"). The other players will then take that many steps out loud as they go ("One, two, three"). Then they ask the question again.

2) Mr Fox may call "Dinner Time!" Then Mr Fox will turn and chase the other players back to their starting point. If Mr Fox successfully tags a player, that player becomes the new Mr Fox for the next round.

Another Tag game was Duck, Duck Goose.

In this game, usually played by young children, the players sit in a circle facing inward. One player, the "picker" or "fox", walks around tapping or pointing to each player in turn, calling each of them a "duck", until finally announcing one to be the "goose". The goose then rises and runs around the circle in the same direction as the picker, attempting to tag that player before he or she can sit back down in the vacated spot.

As with all games and playground activities the supervising teacher was there to make sure that things did not get out of hand.  If they did not pay attention and make sure rules were followed and the games did not get out of hand there would be complaints which would lead to banning.

Another game (non tag)  was:

Red Rover Red Rover

The game is played between two lines of players, usually around thirty feet apart. The game starts when the first team (usually called the "East" or "West" team, although this does not relate to the actual relative location of the teams) calls out, "Red rover, red rover, send [name of player on opposite team] right over." or "Red Rover, Red Rover, let [name of player of opposing team] come over." or "Red rover, red rover, we call [name of player on opposite team] over."

The immediate goal for the person called is to run to the other line and break the "East" team's chain (formed by the linking of hands). If the person called fails to break the chain, this player joins the "East" team. However, if the player successfully breaks the chain, this player may select either of the two "links" broken by the successful run, and take them to join the "West" team. The "West" team then calls out "Red rover" for a player on the "East" team, and play continues.

When only one player is left on a team, they also must try and break through a link. If they do not succeed, the opposing team wins. 

In later years when I was supervising playground the boys wanted to play football.  They also were playing football in after school leagues and always wanted to play tackle.  This had to be banned on the playground because they did not have protective gear on and so they played tag football or flag football and the girls were mostly relegated to the sidelines.  Once in awhile a girl would play football but that was not usually the case.

I was not in favor of it because of the injuries.  I can remember one mother being very upset because of a broken arm that her child had received playing football after school.  I remember thinking (and I may have even said it)  "What can you expect when you let him play football.  You are lucky the injury was not worse.  

The  teachers were there to modify rules, select appropriate boundaries and equipment, and make sure pupils are safe. Teachers should emphasize tag games that develop self-improvement, participation, fair play, and cooperation and they need to make sure the game does not get out of hand.  Too many times when I was supervising I would see other teachers using the time to visit with one another instead of actively watching to make sure the students were safe and I am sure I did the same thing at times.  

Play is necessary and important to a child's development but it should be play that includes all children and above all it should be safe. Here is an article from the New York Times about the importance of Recess.. The Fourth R.