We know that many people believe that primary students often do nothing but play all day. Especially in Kindergarten. And while it is true that we have some time set aside every day to have unstructured play time- where the children decide which activities they will engage in and how that will look- sometimes we have to actively fight to keep that time unstructured as the demands and expectations of what we should be doing instead increases. On top of that, the time allotted to courses like art, music, and physical education is being whittled away to make more room for reading, math, and traditionally 'heavier' courses, so kids in general are spending less time moving, less time being creative, and more time preparing for tests. Play has been gradually taken away from children and replaced with structured activities, academic work, and digital experiences to the point where they hardly ever “play” at all. As this trend has continued, there has been a rise in childhood anxiety, childhood suicide, and a growing number of kids who simply don’t know how to play. Three California educators—Eric Saibel, Scott Bedley, and Tim Bedley— along with a group of other educators, launched Global School Play Day, a full day in February set aside to just let students play. All day long. No screens, no structure, no adult interference. Now in its eighth year, Global School Play Day has spread across the world. Although one day out of the year isn’t nearly enough, they are hoping that the day will inspire schools to build more time for unstructured play into every school day. And so some of the BEST classes will be participating for some part, if not all, of the play day on Wednesday, Feb. 1. Our students need play and all the rich learning that comes from play in their lives, even if for just one day.  Have you ever seen such a great display of grit, determination and perseverance?! Team Awesome was awesome at skating this week! If there was a gold medal given for perseverance and sheer grit, every member of Team Awesome would have received one. It made our hearts sing to see the sheer determination from those new skaters on the ice. It also made us a little ashamed of our own lack of similar joyful determination when learning something new and difficult. Many of the children had never been on skates (as evidenced from the spaghetti legs and slapstick falls) and spent more time getting up than they did actually staying up. And some of those falls were hard- there might be bruises. But not one single child asked to have their skates taken off early. Not one of them complained or cried or whined. And every face had a beaming smile despite the difficulties some of them were having staying on their feet, much less actually moving. And a big thank you to those parents and family members who were able to come with us. It makes activities like this so much easier when there are extra adults to help out. We are so proud of Team Awesome!
Unplug & Play and Family Literacy Week encourages children and families to unplug from their screens and explore different ways of spending time together. Interior Savings’ Unplug & Play and Family Literacy Week provides families with free, community supported activities so they can increase their time spent participating in healthy, interactive fun! The list and description of free family events in Kamloops will be posted as they are confirmed. Keep checking back for an updated list of activities, times, and locations. Events scheduled for BEST: Monday, Jan. 23rd - Drop Everything And Read Tuesday, Jan. 24th - Wear a Word Wednesday, Jan. 25th - Score with books! Wear a jersey. Sports bookmark activity. Thursday, Jan. 26th - Reading Rocks! Wear funky socks! Friday, Jan. 27th - Hats off to Reading! Wear a hat! As always, the children are welcome to participate or not.
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