Stop Playground Clutter

How well-kept are playgrounds in your neighborhood or school? Encourage other kids and adults to help erase playground clutter.

• 1.

  With an adult accompanying your class during recess, survey the playground at your school (or go with a parent to a playground in your neighborhood). What kinds of clutter do you see? Who is responsible for the playground?

• 2.

  In small groups, develop plans to help keep the playground clean and safe. On white paper, use Crayola® Erasable Colored Pencils to make a list of recommendations. If you need to correct spellings, just erase. Check with the people responsible for the playground to make decisions about how you will proceed.

• 3.

  Then put your plans into action. One part of your plan might be to publicize a Campaign for Clean Playgrounds. You might want to make posters that encourage people to help. Use Crayola Markers and Crayola Twistables on white paper to draw beautiful playgrounds.

• 4.

  Write action words, such as "Pick up your trash."

• 5.

  Make your poster colorful by adding a bold border so it will be noticed wherever you hang it. Send a message to your classmates and community that safe playgrounds are important!

Benefits

• Students participate in unstructured play in which they use skills such as cooperation, sharing, and problem solving and reduce stress.
• Students analyze the status of a nearby playground and in small groups develop plans to campaign for clean playgrounds.
• Students creatively express their ideas with a poster that advocates for clean and safe playgrounds.

Adaptations

• In teams of three or four, create treasure hunts on the playground. Invent clues, maps, and treasures. Classmates use them, and a compass rose, to follow the clues.
• Children with special needs and younger children may work best in small groups with an adult supervisor to do the survey and make their plans.
• Assessment: How observant were students? How engaged were they in the collaboration with leaders? How practical are their solutions? How dramatically do their posters share the message?