Should traditional playground games be timetabled in at primary schools?

[FlowerFairyDaisy]

TLDR: would the return of traditional playground games be beneficial to young children? Would they benefit from a scheduled slot in the school timetable for this? I am not a journalist.

Hi

I have been thinking about this recently and another thread has prompted me to ponder it again now.

My children are all grown up now so I don't know what break times in primary schools involve these days. But when I was at school, we spent break and lunch times doing the following:

• Skipping (sometimes quite a few people were involved in this and obviously 2 on the ropes)

• 'Hop Scotch' and variations of it (a grid was marked out on the playground)

• Games such as 'What's the Time Mr Wolf', 'Tag' or 'Catch' and 'Om Pom'

• Shooting balls into the netball basket

• Football

• A game called 'British Bulldog' was banned! But we used to play a gentle version of it

• Rounders

• 'Piggy in the Middle.'

What other games and activities can people remember playing?

Some of my golden memories of junior school are of the times I spent with people playing these games outside (in most weathers!).

Do children still play together in this way at break times?

These games and activities felt like a lovely way to pass leisure time in school but really, when I think about it, they were actually beneficial to us all in so many other ways, such as:

Teamwork
Laughing with our classmates (bonding)
Physical activity
Fresh Air

Did these games somehow play a part in wiring our brains in a really healthy way? Would they act as a counterbalance to screen time?

The only time in recent years that I have played these games has been with our local Scout group.

Do you think that children might even benefit from a dedicated time slot in their weekly timetable for 'traditional games' (like P.E. but in addition to it)?

I am would love to hear people's thoughts as I am considering taking this idea further (petition, speak to my local teachers and MP's etc. perhaps).

Thank you for reading.

YABU - no need to bring back traditional playgroup games
YANBU - get on and start that petition!

Quite a few schools have got involved with various things to help with this - usually involves a few year sixes learning some games and then being a playground buddy that runs games once a week.

So you don’t know what happens at primary schools at the moment but you want to start a petition to change it?

Do children still play together in this way at break times?

This feels like quite a key question for you to know the answer to before starting a petition! Yes, my 7 year old reports playing all of these at break, and the school has recently bought lots of new equipment for break time play including skipping ropes but also things like tyres the kids can build with.

I don't think these games are played anymore. I am asking if they are. Do your children play them?

It's not a change, it would be a potential improvement and benefit is my feeling.

There are also already schemes to encourage outdoor play in schools, e.g. https://outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk/

What makes you think they aren't?

My DS is 6 and they do most of these, definitely. The playground has markings for things like hopscotch and there is a rota for break/lunch so all classes get the chance to use the football pitch. My DS and his friendship group seem to have invented an ever more complicated game of tag with new rules all the time but whenever I happen to walk past the school at break time, they’re running around in the playground looking delighted!

And what do you think children are doing at break instead?

Lots of schools already have playground games in place

Honestly, why all the negativity?

God forbid someone has an idea and actually wants to do something that might improve children's physical and mental wellbeing.

It was a genuine question - you say you don't have any involvement with primary schools, so what has given you the impression there's an issue to be addressed here? You must have an idea of what you think has happened to stop children playing in this way?

Schools often have markings to encourage play, games and turn taking such as hopscotch, number ladders/ snakes. Often there may be netball hoops.
SMSAs lead or encourage games and boxes of equipment are available.
Lots of schools also run clubs or sporting activities at lunchtimes.

And then you get to high school and they're not even allowed to run about at breaks 😞 that is the saddest thing

What a bizarre thread? Why don't you think kids are playing these games already?

I don't see or hear of them playing all these games nowadays.

Are they? If so, great!

It's not negativity... its a genuine query.

Youve launched into talking about petitions and timetabling even though you have also given no context to WHY you think kids arent doing these?

In my experience, most primary schools have hopscotches lines already and kids play these games and some games have evolved such that they get new rules and quirks with each generation. I even see kids on my street playing some of these games (from ages of 4 to 11 all happily playing together).

I took would be curious to know what you think kids do in the playground or what they need to change?

The primary children I know are always doing hopscotch, skipping, whats the time mr wolf, tag.

What makes you think they arnt?

OK, thank you all.

I will ask for the thread to be deleted.

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

They are. I presume you are not very familiar with primary schools and primary school aged children.

Or the many derivations of stuck in the mud.

I was a TA quite recently, and we started off most of these games on lunch duty. The children then played by themselves. Not really seeing them as needing to be timetabled

I think it depends on the school. Those that value play will help the children to learn and play these games. Often in PE.

Other schools...don't. They ban many activities because someone might break a nail. But i think (and hope) they are very much in the minority. Banning playground games was a thing for a while, but that was over a decade ago.

When I was at infant school, one of the dinner ladies played traditional games with us at lunch time. Often singing games eg " I sent a letter to my love" . I adored her and the games we played. It is such a precious memory.

My daughter (Y2) often teaches me clapping rhymes/games they play at school. They also play chase and have a complicated school version, build dens and fairy houses, have a nature garden, dance, climb trees, and generally seem to have lots of fun, not dissimilar to the things I remember playing at that age. They don't seem to skip, but that might have been when I was older. There are hopscotch games painted on the pavement and they often seem to get out the playground chalk.

I used to work in a museum where we played traditional games as part of one of the workshops. Some schools definitely knew more than others. I think the negativity is because you have a solution without establishing that a problem exists in the first place.