A Playground Lesson Each Day

For children of all age ranges, the parks and playgrounds in Livermore are sources of great enjoyment. From swinging on the swings to flying down the slides to climbing the structures, kids are learning how to use there bodies, hone their gross motor skills and develop their sense of success and accomplishment.

For preschoolers in particular, going to the playground is a learning activity that is as common to them as going to school on a daily basis will become. My son rarely misses the opportunity to point out the playgrounds that he sees and joyfully (but firmly) announces that he needs to be there right at that moment. For my part, I love to see him happy but I also relish the idea of getting to socialize with all the other moms and dads that are there. His playtime becomes my “adult time.” It is a win-win situation!  

But beyond just these basic outcomes also lies the opportunity for greater teaching and learning for you and your child. A recent article written by Deborah Skolnik in the April 2005 issue of Parents magazine outlines ways for parents to help their preschoolers develop certain skills at the playground that will enhance skills needed to succeed in preschool and beyond. Playground structures such as swings, slides and tubes contain the beginnings for these valuable lessons.

Swings

Skolnik suggests that you swing on a swing while holding your child on your lap. Then, have your child focus on a nearby object such as a tree while you are moving. This helps you child to learn to focus her gaze and to view the details of an item from different angles. Later in school, your child will use this skill to recognize letters and numbers, even when different people write them and to be able to focus on things that are located in different positions, such as words written on an easel or in a book. She also suggests that you use the swing to help teach your child about direction, pushing him or her and saying such things as “You are moving far away,” or “You are coming closer.”   

Slides

If you child is new to the slide, put them up only half way first and stand at the bottom to catch them. As your child uses the slide more, they will want to become more independent and go down without you catching them. This means that they will have to plan out their landing, a skill that they will need all throughout their school life in order to hone skills such organizing their play things to desk/work organization to note taking. Climbing up the slide’s ladder while you spot them is also a way for children to develop some overall strength in their upper bodies and this impacts one’s fine motor skills, such as having the strength to hold a pencil correctly for writing. I also use this act of ladder climbing as an opportunity to have my son count the steps that he takes, tapping into early math concepts and for teaching him about opposites, such as top/bottom, up/down, go/stop.    

Tubes or Play Structure Spaces

When a child crawls through a tube or runs across the floor of a play structure, he is learning to navigate his way through a defined space. While he is building stronger muscles, he can also learn about left vs. right, turning around and running vs. walking vs. crawling. As you guide him verbally and physically with directions to change his body’s position, he will be building the skills for following specific directions in school and adjusting to new situations.   Successful completion of getting through a tube or structure leads to the reward of a parent’s hug, teaching the valuable lesson of working through a situation and how great it can feel to achieve success. This helps in problem solving all throughout school life.  

Source:

Skolnik, Deborah. "Playground Lessons."  Parents  April. 2005:179-180.