Responsibility is a concept the children are exploring in depth this unit.
A learning opportunity has come up recently that is helping the children to deepen their understanding of rights and responsibilities. In the past several weeks many children have been engaging in fighting-themed games, especially in the forest, the result is that some children are feeling scared by the aggressive actions in the games or are feeling upset at being "shot"at or being identified as the "bad guy".
This morning the teachers and the children had a big meeting in the forest. The children all agreed that everyone at Creative Minds has a right to feel safe. I explained that the fighting games were interfering with people's right to feel safe. There are 4 teachers who care for (and play with) the 25 children as they move through their day. If this type of play were to continue we would need more adults to help them learn the skills they need to play safely and respectfully of everyone's feelings and needs.
Everyone has a right to feel safe so we have asked the children to save the fighting-themed games that have pretend weapons or fighting actions, for play time at home where their parents can help guide them and be mindful of that play. The children agreed to keep Creative Minds a fighting-game-free place.
Today as we left the woods Aiden said to me "Thank you Wendy" (referring to the "everyone has a right to feel safe talk") I asked him, "Did you feel safe in the forest today when there weren't any fighting games?" and he smiled and said "Yes!"
Thank you for posting this, Wendy! It is important for everyone at CM to feel safe. We will be mindful at home in regards to play-fighting.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, it's important that the children are feeling supported in their play both at home and at school. We wanted the children to know that the fighting-themed games are not wrong, just that "catching bad guy" games need extra support in making sure everyone involved in the game wants to be involved, wants the role they've been assigned to, feels equally powerful, and that the play doesn't turn so aggressive that someone gets hurt, emotionally and/or physically.
ReplyDelete