Global School Play Day - Take Two!

Last year, I decided to participate in Global School Play Day with my grade 7 and 8 students. It was a huge success, and as a result, more teachers at my school participated this year. I had my class for 3.5 hours over the course of the day, and we played the whole time.

Everyone was playing! 

I think I'd like to build in more free-play time during the year, rather than having it confined to one "special" day. I'm going to look at doing something once a month, on a day when I have my students for a good chunk of time. Figuring out the logistics of that will be exciting, and I'll want to make sure I explain it adequately for parents so they don't think we're "just playing games" in my classroom. I believe in the importance of play, and in the learning opportunities that present themselves when students are empowered to make decisions and solve problems independently.

Here are some photos of students at play in my classroom during Global School Play Day on Feb 5, 2020.

For some students, this was an excellent
opportunity to make some art.

This is a game I recently supported on Kickstarter
called "Who's She" - it's a wonderful take on the
classic "Guess Who" game. All the people are
renowned women, and there are symbols and
information about their accomplishments and who they
are as people, rather than just asking questions about what
they look like. The board is made of wood and the art is phenomenal!

A group of five set up a game of RISK first thing
in the morning, and played throughout the day. 

Yahtzee to start the day.

There was always at least one game of chess
on the go during the day.

And there was almost always a group playing
Apples to Apples, not always the same students.

This is another game I supported on Kickstarter. It is
called "Turing Tumble" and is a physical
computer. Students were excited to figure out
what each of the gears could do, and to try to solve the puzzles.