3/23/10

Today I observed at the St. Norbert Children's Center for an hour. I watched a group of children play with Legos. There were 2 boys and 2 girls at the Lego station. The girls were playing with the boys and they were all making people. They all wanted their person to have either hair or a hat on their head. The two boys were making cars for their people to ride in. They also made a racing area. One of the girls was pretending that her person was swimming and diving off of a diving board, while the other girl was making her person ride horses and made a stable for the horses to live in. I also watched one girl on the computer who was playing a barney counting game. She was singing along to the song that was playing in the background. It was a counting song. She was also dancing around as she sang the words.
Later the children went outside to play on the playground. They were much more active outside than inside. They were all running around on the equipment. Some of the girls were playing with hula hoops and some of the boys were throwing a football around. There was also a group of children playing tag. They were all really enjoying themselves and it was very nice outside. I believe that the nice weather made them more energetic and excited to be able to run around and play outside. I believe that it is definitely important for children to be able to have plenty of time to play outside on a playground. This type of play is a great opportunity for children to do what they want, have fun, burn off extra energy, and get the exercise they need to stay healthy. Children play with more energy and vigorously outside in a playground than they do indoors during play time.