I’ve been teaching kindergarten for over 25 years and although a lot has changed over my tenure, the one thing that has remained consistent is the student’s love of recess. Every year when asked to name their favorite subject in school, my kindergarten students all unanimously squeal “RECESS!”
So when Covid struck and our school lives got turned upside down, I worried about my students missing the time they cherished most of all. The daily social interactions and friendships that were developed on the playground were lost during our time of Virtual Learning.
I teach in the Upper Dublin School District in the southeastern part of Pennsylvania, thirty minutes north of Philadelphia. Fortunately, we are one of the few districts in the area that ensured the safe return of our kindergarten students back to the classroom in early October 2020. As thrilled as I was to be back, it certainly wasn’t school as we knew it. Children were in desks, instead of at tables, and they were spread 6 feet apart. They wore masks all day and only left the classroom to go to the cafeteria to eat lunch.
Recess looked very different, too. Instead of having the entire playground at their disposal, each class was restricted to one small area of the play yard. I fretted that on the days my students weren’t scheduled to be on the “playground equipment” they would get bored and restless.
On the days we were scheduled to be “under the tree” (the only tree in the recess area) instead of on the playground equipment, I was surprised to observe just the opposite happening. Time away from the playground equipment seemed to inspire new creative energy. The children found little weeds growing and quickly these weeds became sacred plants to be saved! They ran around in groups collecting sticks and stones, on a superhero mission! They worked collaboratively, using the sticks and stones they collected to build protective fences around the weeds. The other kindergarten classes joined the mission on their days under the tree.
Over several weeks leaves, wood chips and soil, got added to the fences to make them stronger. All of this was kid created and inspired by imagination!
I recently learned that a group of seniors enrolled in a Project Based Learning Class at the Upper Dublin High School have worked to create plans for a “Living Building.” This living building will be an expansion of Robbins Park, one of the district’s most cherished treasures! There is so much that is amazing about this project, but I think my kindergarten students and I would agree, the best part is the inclusion of a natural playground on the site!
I admire the UDHS students who had the passion and vision to create this plan and I can’t wait to see it come to fruition.