rough play

 Materials:

     Picture of children fighting or playing rough

 Introduction:

Today we are going to talk about playing rough. What does it mean to play rough? Allow children to discuss. Children may give examples of hitting, fighting, punching tumbling, wrestling, etc. Has anyone ever got hurt when others were playing rough? (Most children have.) How did that make you feel? Right. You did not like playing rough when you got hurt or in trouble. Today, we will learn how to play rough in a way that no one gets hurt or in trouble. What are we going to learn today? (Let children respond.) Good listeners!

  Objective/Purpose:

Children will learn how to play rough in a safe and acceptable way.

 Procedure:

1. You gave good examples of playing rough. Is it okay to play rough? (Children often say 'NO!) You know what? It is okay to play rough, as long as we do it in a safe and acceptable way. Today, that is what we will learn.

2. The first rule of playing rough is that we need to do it in a safe area. Let's look around our room and see if we can find areas that are safe for playing rough and not safe for playing rough. A good place to look for is an area that does not have sharp or hard corners, an area that is soft, an area where nothing can get broken or no one will get hurt. Let's go on a detective walk to find these areas.

3. Talk about how it is typically easier to find these areas outside and think about, or go look for, areas that are safe outside.

4. Next, we have to remember that we have to play rough only when it is okay with the adult in charge. That means the teacher or the mom or dad, or grandma, or someone who is taking care of you has to say it is okay for you to play rough.

5. The final thing that we need to remember is that no one can get hurt. That means no hitting, biting, kicking, pinching, jumping on someone, yelling, etc. Allow children to discuss this.

6. Great! Tomorrow, we will do an activity to practice playing rough in a safe and acceptable manner. Do you play rough today in unsafe areas? (No!) Do we play rough without an adult telling us it is okay? (No!) Do we pinch or hit or hurt our friends when we play rough? (No!) You have been really good listeners.

 Practice & Extended Activities:

Have children map out areas in the classroom or outdoor area that are safe for rough play. They can either draw pictures, take photos, or write about these areas.