Please Help.

[Guest]

I know its a topic that has been covered before, but i'm looking at superhero and weapon play, I have researched it and found info from penny holland etc, I would really appreciate it if you could all just tell me if you allow it or have a zero tolerance approach in your setting. Do you have a policy in place?

Thanks Caroline x

Edited April 29, 2011 by Guest

[Cait]

Well, we do 'allow' gun play, but the children have to be made aware that other children don't always want to join in with it, and that they can only 'shoot' people who are playing the game with them.

[Guest]

Have you looked at the site 'abc does a blog'? It's written by Alastair Bryce-Clark, early years bod.

 

He writes about this topic and puts forward ideas on how to use it to develop certain areas of learning - well worth a gander!

 

I'm soon off to a course at Early Excellence on this very theme - will let you know!

 

I agree, we can't stop it, just have to channel it!

 

I create a Jedi / Ben 10 / Transformers etc 'zone' - which is effectively the only place they can act out this play- otherwise it overruns other areas and spaces, which isn't fair on others! The boys get this and mostly co-operate.

 

Sometimes I take the 'wind out of their sails' by challenging them to create a new 'weapon/machine' for Ben 10 / Darth Vader / Power Rangers etc - one which will do xyz - can they do it? I then link this into speaking and listening - giving instructions - writing labels for parts of their creation and also scribing/writing how it works and what it does.

 

Hope this is useful!

 

Jenni

[HoneyPancakes]

I asked this question once before and someone answered asking how a child would feel if their father was in the armed forces and I was telling them guns were wrong? Similarly Farmers.

 

I don't have toy guns but boys just make them out of lego, toast, sticks..you name it. As Cait said, as long as children don't have to play with guns, and others aren't upset by it, I let it go.

 

I do draw the line at mock-suicides and holding guns to other's heads.

 

Honey

[Panders]

Same as Cait, we do allow it, although to be fair it doesn't come along as "bang, bang you're dead!" type stuff, it needs to be part of the "story" they are playing with and those who do not want to join in know that they don't have to and those that are need to respect the other children.

[Guest TinklePrincess]

There's a book or article called "we don't play with guns here", I don't remember who it was by - I read it four years ago - But that might be some help...

 

The setting I've just come from didn't have a policy, nor did they tell me that they didn't allow gun play, so I always let the children get on with it (after doing the reading about the benefits) but when a member of staff saw a child make a gun out of lego, she broke it up and told him "we don't have guns".

[emz321]

we don't have a policy but we do allow children to make and play with swords/ guns. I believe that it is better to allow children to explore this play as otherwise they will just play it / make them and call it another name!

 

i have been on that course that early excellence mentioned in the above post. It was very good and well worth the money, the lady (can't remeber her name and i have lent the stuff i got from the course to a person at work to look through!) provided lots of books you could steer the childrens play through. Also she suggested showing children that real fighting has rules e.g. if yor children wrestle, she suggested showing then the rules for a wrestling game, then coming up with rules toegther like wrestling can only happen on the mat, only 2 at a time ect..

 

the abc blog by alistair glegg on the current post has a downloadable policy for superhero play you can look at.

 

Another book i have read which touched on superheroe play and is very interesting - also touches on gender bias is ' boys and girls, Superhero play in the dolls corner by Vivian Gussin Paley ' (dolls play is the american word for role play)

[Guest]

My friend is of the opinion that gun play is allowed once children have understood the Geneva convention.