Physical Exercise Indoors

[Guest terrydoo73]

We are obviously moving into weather that is not too great for some of our children to be outside in. Monday was horrendous with the rain just pelting down outside and ok we could have got them all dressed up and taken them out for a few moments and then in again but it doesn't really get rid of all that energy within the children which needs to be released. Today was extremely cold and although children were wrapped up in coats, gloves, hats and scarves one little girl did actually turn blue before she came back in!! We do have a lovely big playhouse that unfortunately stores our ride-ons at one side and a rather large sandpit in the centre of the floor in the other half. We are thinking of changing this to a smaller sand pit - at present all the children have to sit on the floor to access it so we might buy one that they could stand around. We would also like to have a wooden toy kitchen in an area within this playhouse and beside this a seating/table as well as some hanging easels on the walls for painting/markmaking. Having 10 children in this playhouse means it becomes cramped at times and unfortunately we have nowhere else to store our ride-ons.

 

We need some physical exercises we could do inside on days like these - we don't have much room in our playroom so it has to be something simple like "Simon Says" and then we jump on one spot, wave our hands etc etc. Is there anything else that we could do?

 

 

Also we have another issue that we are desperately trying to address. 2 of our little boys have this "chasing game" when they go outside. Basically it means they say to one another "you can't catch me" and then they run around until one catches the other. You can imagine the consequences which have already happened - other children get knocked over, the 2 boys get quite rough when they catch each other, literally pinning them to the wall and thereby hitting heads or scratching faces. At the moment we have tried the usual - reminding them when they are ready to go outside that this play is not to happen and that if is does there will be consequences. Then when we go outside we basically have one adult watching these 2 particular children all the time and ensuring they do not play this game but rather encouraging them to divert them to other activities. Please don't think that we haven't enough other things to play with - plenty of balls and nets, small world construction, climbing frame, slides, sand and water, hoops, wheelbarrows and prams. Is there anything else we could try?

[Panders]

Terry i am assuming you are already doing all the action type songs, head shoulders knees and toes, If you're happy and you know it, you could try Sticky Kids cd's, they are very good just google Sticky Kids, you don't need huge amounts of room for their routines really. You might consider what we call silly dancing to old pop hits that children like such as Superman, Agadoo, YMCA.

 

Sorry about your lads outside and I can understand when they get a little OTT how they can hurt each other, be strong on your consequences, so if they do start up they are always excluded for a while, I seem to remember you are either all in or all outside so you can't have half children inside and half out, so that they are separated and can't play the chase game. Ours quite often like to play a chase game, I stuff a scarf into my back pocket and they have to try and chase me to get it out if they do, then they get to have the scarf, but we do have a reasonable amount of room. We also do things like Going on a Bear Hunt, or What's the time Mr. Wolf, or Please Mr. Crocodile outside so that they are focussed and included in that type of chase game rather than on each other.

[Fredbear]

Hi great suggestions from Panders.

Have you thought of buying a top tuft and frame for your sand. The top tuft is like a flat sandtray and the frame can be adjusted to two differing heights depending on the size/age of your children, readily available over here in most educational catalogues.

Great for all sorts of activities especially messy play, small world, discovery. The frame can be easily erected and stores in to a small cardboard box if not in use, might be worth a look.

I know B AND Q do a similar tray for a fraction of the price called a builders cement tray.

We often have large hoops out indoors for physical play.

These can be used for music and movement, colour recognition, positional language, throwing bean bags into etc.

We have ours on a piece of string and hang then onto a hook in our outside sheds.

[Fredbear]

Ooh forgot to say what about the parachutes you can get , great for indoor or outdoors, we use balls with ours, children can go under it, make waves lots and lots of lovely opportunities for physical play.

Folds up nicely into a bag for easy storage and lightweight.

[Guest terrydoo73]

Well this situation with the 2 boys really blew up today and as I write I am crying buckets over the whole thing!

 

We reminded the children before going out that it was slippy and wet on the ground and that they needed to be careful, not to be running too hard and not to be having a game of chase. We then asked what happens when we start the game of running after each other and they told us someone can fall and get hurt and we said yes that is correct. As soon as we got outside the door the same 2 boys started again. We pulled them over to one side and asked them to stop. This was repeated a few times before we got one of them distracted to play in the sand tray. The other one continued to run around and shout "help help". We stopped him again and asked why he was crying help help and he just looked at us blank. He continued to run around and then fell on his bum and started to cry. We got him up again and reminded him of the slippy condiitons and what we had said before going outside.

 

When his mum came to collect I happened to say in conversation that the child had fallen outside and hurt his bum, and then went on to say that we were trying to warn the children about running around and how slippy it was. The mum went home and got very upset and made the father ring me. She was sitting beside him while he talked to me and kept prompting him over what to say. The father argued with me about my unprofessional manner in dealing with his wife in front of other parents in the hallway over this incident. I explained the full facts and his father still said that children will continue to play this game tig and his child should not be stopped from doing it but then contradicted himself a few minutes later by saying he would try and stop his child - what he kept coming back to was the way I handled telling his wife and that he was sure his child was not the only one running around as I said there had to be others. I explained that there were lot of other activities going on at the same time, hoops, balls, bowling, sand, music, small world etc but only his child was doing the running. The father became extremely angry with me and repeated his feeling that I was not handling my role as leader and despite my apologies refused to accept the situation as dealt with.

[sunnyday]

Oh dear Terry - what a horrible situation for you......really sorry that you are feeling so upset......

 

Without knowing the child and his parents it's very hard to know what to suggest....

 

Do you have an accident record (I know that you are NI and things maybe different for you) - do you have a complaints procedure?

 

You say dad doesn't feel this is 'dealt with' - if someone said this to me I would be directing them to our complaints procedure - he could then put his complaint in writing (wonder if he would bother?)........

 

Please make sure that you have a full written record for yourself......so an accurate record signed by staff to say what happened in the 'accident', a record of what you said to mum and a record of your 'phone call with dad.

 

Do you feel happy with the way in which you dealt with the situation? It does help if you are feeling confident about your own actions.

 

I'm not sure that I have been much help there.....

 

Sending a hug xxx

[HappyMaz]

So what do you think will happen next? If it were me, I would remind the parent of our complaints policy, and ask him if he would like to make a complaint. At this point he will either decide not to take it further, or he will indeed make a complaint which will enable you to show him that you have done an investigation and have taken his concerns seriously.

 

Ultimately I'm not sure what else you can do regarding this child. Children who want to be physical outdoors will do so no matter how hard we try to stop them and sometimes the more we nag, the more they'll do it anyway. Maybe he just needs to fall on his bum a few times before he realises it isn't any fun getting hurt especially as he is running around on his own. Are there activities on offer that you know he would be interested in? If there is plenty for him do that he will enjoy and you're sure he's not running around because he's bored or not engaged outdoors, maybe you just need to let him get on with things, providing he isn't endangering other children's safety.

 

All you can do is keep reminding the children about the weather conditions and how they can make the ground slippery and warn them that if they fall over they'll get hurt. Then, having given them the skills and knowledge they need, let them assess their own risk and help them deal with the consequences if they do fall over. These first aid routines offer one-to-one opportunities to talk to children about why they hurt themselves and why we tried to stop them doing whatever it was in the first place!

 

Try not to take it to heart. Ask yourself if you did everything you should have done, whether there was anything untoward in the way you dealt with mum and once you've concluded that you did everything right, move on.

[Guest terrydoo73]

Having calmed down and had a few hours to think about it yes I am confident I dealt with it appropriately. I tried (unsuccessfully) to explain to the father our complaints procedure ie put it in writing to our Management Committee and then we could deal with the situation. He did not want to take it further but rather preferred to make it quite known to me that I was unprofessional and needed a lesson in manners (his words not mine). My Deputy told me after the phone call that I handled the whole thing in her mind very appropriately - that it was not an incident that should be written up as the child fell of their own accord and did not fall against anything or anyone nor did he hurt himself (allthough I think the mother will disagreed and attempt to show the bruising on his bottom).

 

We have loads of activities available for the children - hoops, bowling, footballs and nets, sand tray, wheelbarrows with wood to carry and prams with dolls to push about as well as horses to ride on and small world toys on tables to stand and play with. I think on reflection the only thing I could change is to move the Little Tikes climbing frame away out of the possible use of this child - he appears to use this as his object to run around and make an issue of being caught. Having 3 adults to 10 children I think it would really be the fathers word against mine if he wanted to pursue the issue of his child being chased by another child - we zone the areas so that each of us are responsible for the children within those areas at any one time.

 

I have recorded the incident and telephone call with the father and previous incidents and telephone calls with the mother but on reflection I think it is just a child making an issue out of something when they go home to gain attention and once it works the first time they turn it on again and again because they know it gets attention. Funny when I think of it now the mother did say to me the last time that this child has more toys than a normal child would have and he refuses to play on his own at home with these toys so they will buy him something which he promises he will play with more - spoilt or what! I really think it is a case of manipulation. I also on reflection think it was pathetic of the mother not to actually tap me on the arm and say "could I have a word about this in your office" if she felt it was inappropriately mentioned in front of other parents or else to ring me herself. Throughout the conversation with the father I could hear her talking to the father and telling him what to say to me. I just think the whole conversation got so out of hand on the fathers part that he just wanted to show his wife what a good husband he was in doing exactly as she wanted him to do and if he thought about it carefully and taken the time he might have realised that all children do fall end of story and worrying about what other people think in a hallway is a bit childish .... I think I have gained my confidence again (hopefully and until tomorrow morning when I have to face them!)

 

We have a visit from our Early Years Registration body in the morning - this was sprung on me half an hour after speaking to the father about this incident. We have been waiting for 6 months to get approval for part of our car park to be used by the children for ride-ons. Maybe this might help children redirect their energy!!

[Rea]

You will always have a parent who thinks they are right, who thinks their child is right and that you are always wrong.

You had warned the children the ground was slippery and they would get hurt if they fell. This child needed several reminders and still failed to take the advice. Its a learning curve isnt it?

The conversation you had with mom sounds like the one we would have with a parent over an incident like that, nothing confidential, just a little anecdote about the day.

You say dad said he doesnt want to take it further but I would still give mom details on how to complain with a note assuring her all complaints are taken seriously. Sometimes when faced with the steps they would have to take and how seriously we take all complaints they realise maybe their complaint was overblown.

Dont wrry about facing them tomorrow, I bet mom will be more embarrassed