As I begin my eighth year at LREI, I realize that I’ve been thinking a lot the past few years about play. Last year, I came across Global School Play Day. Elena encouraged me to share this event with the Lower School and we had several classes participate. It was a lovely day for my class. The children engaged in decision-making, turn-taking, sharing, compromise, and practiced social skills such as initiating play and joining play all day long. I’m excited to participate in Global School Play Day again this year and hope many of my colleagues across all three divisions do as well. 

A few years ago, I also came up with the idea to spend morning drop-off time, a few days a week, on the Roof instead of in the classroom. This allowed our students to expend some energy before school started, have some social time and share any must-share information before getting to class work, and begin the school day in a different environment with a sense of joy and fun. I discovered that this also helped children with separation anxiety to separate more easily. Seeing everyone else laughing and playing, was a more enticing invitation for those students to say goodbye to their grownups, join their peers and begin their school day, rather than sitting at a table to complete an academic activity. Separately, we also built in short 15-20 minute “run-around” breaks on the Roof on days where the class didn’t have specials until 2PM. That way, students could get a short movement and social break from the academic components of the day, and from being in the same room together all day! 

A few years ago, the Lower School faculty spent some time examining Elisabeth Irwin’s founding principles for LREI. We reimagined these guiding principles, in keeping with Elisabeth Irwin’s original intentions, while also acknowledging how the world has changed since those times. One of our new guiding principles states, “Childlike Day – We are dedicated to providing ample time for open exploration and age-appropriate play.” Another one says, “First Hand Experience – We are dedicated to ensuring that children are active learners who take risks, embrace mistakes, engage in authentic problem solving, and reflect on their experiences.” A third states, “Empathy – We are dedicated to teaching explicitly the importance of caring for others.” 

These principles connected with something I had heard at a workshop I had attended at the 2015 PEN Conference on teaching children to care about nature. The facilitator shared that research showed when children play in natural environments, their play is more cooperative and less aggressive and competitive than playground play. This really stuck with me and got me thinking about all the conflicts that occur at recess and how a simple change in location might change the play that occurs, and as a result build better social skills and relationships amongst our students. As someone who loves walks, hiking, kayaking and being out in nature, I would also love the opportunity to share this passion with my students. Additionally, first graders engage in a study of parks and playgrounds at the very end of the year, but we tend to focus more on playgrounds as they’re easier to get to, and it can be difficult to schedule multiple longer half-day field trips at the end of the year. By spacing out our visits to parks, I also hope that students can gain a deeper appreciation for the role that parks play in our lives, especially living in New York City. For my self-study project, I hope to look at how nature impacts children’s play. 

Some questions I’m hoping to focus on include: 

• How does free play in nature differ from playground play with LREI students?
• What do students play? 
• Does the size of group games change?
• Do the composition of groups change? 
• How frequently do conflicts occur? 
• How long can students sustain play without conflict? 
• Does the location of play affect student behavior and relationships back in the classroom? 

Through this self-study, I hope to gain a deeper understanding of my own priorities as an urban educator. I’d like to examine the role that play and nature have in the education and socialization of our youngest students. Do our city students get enough play time? Are we exposing them enough to the joys of the natural world? What can I do as a teacher to provide my students with more opportunities for play and to discover all that nature has to offer?