In which I ramble about small children
Aug. 23rd, 2006 07:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
auntiemeeshThe kids at school have invented a new game.
They call it basketball, and I find it a fascinating spectator sport. Today there were four of them playing, and this how they do it. They have an air-filled playground ball which they all vie for. One of them will grab it and either kick it down the playground or throw it against the exterior wall of the school (frequently slamming into the protective grates outside the basement windows). As it bounces back, all of them move in a pack to retrieve the ball, one of them latching on and the rest swarming over him in an effort to steal the ball. Once mastery is claimed and accepted by the rest, the events repeat themselves. There are no teams, every child for himself (and I use the masculine pronoun on purpose, as I've never seen any of the girls playing this particular game).
The unspoken rules of the game are fairly simple- no one person can hold onto the ball for more than thirty seconds or so before the rest start getting antsy and angry, the ball should be thrown in such a way that it bounces out to another child, not back into the same child's hand (although there is great flexibility in this rule), and physically wresting the ball from another child's hand will lead to crying and tattling, although smacking the ball out of someone else's hand is perfectly acceptable. Some of the children do better with the rules than others. B likes to just hold the ball and run up and down the length of the playground. A kicks the ball in random directions (quite often out of the playground and into the street) and also is the one who most often cries and tattles when he either has the ball wrested away from him, or fails to physically steal the ball from someone else's hands. But on the whole, they can play this game for an entire hour of outside time with very little disruption or teacher assistance needed. And I find that I can spend the entire hour watching them, as well. I'm not sure what aspect of the game appeals so strongly to me, but I just love to see them play this. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that they never sat down and made up the game, it just evolved, but they all agree on the rules that have never been established, and they play so cooperatively. Plus, they're so darn cute running around the playground like a little pack of happy puppies.
Five days till classes start. Not that I'm counting or anything.
They call it basketball, and I find it a fascinating spectator sport. Today there were four of them playing, and this how they do it. They have an air-filled playground ball which they all vie for. One of them will grab it and either kick it down the playground or throw it against the exterior wall of the school (frequently slamming into the protective grates outside the basement windows). As it bounces back, all of them move in a pack to retrieve the ball, one of them latching on and the rest swarming over him in an effort to steal the ball. Once mastery is claimed and accepted by the rest, the events repeat themselves. There are no teams, every child for himself (and I use the masculine pronoun on purpose, as I've never seen any of the girls playing this particular game).
The unspoken rules of the game are fairly simple- no one person can hold onto the ball for more than thirty seconds or so before the rest start getting antsy and angry, the ball should be thrown in such a way that it bounces out to another child, not back into the same child's hand (although there is great flexibility in this rule), and physically wresting the ball from another child's hand will lead to crying and tattling, although smacking the ball out of someone else's hand is perfectly acceptable. Some of the children do better with the rules than others. B likes to just hold the ball and run up and down the length of the playground. A kicks the ball in random directions (quite often out of the playground and into the street) and also is the one who most often cries and tattles when he either has the ball wrested away from him, or fails to physically steal the ball from someone else's hands. But on the whole, they can play this game for an entire hour of outside time with very little disruption or teacher assistance needed. And I find that I can spend the entire hour watching them, as well. I'm not sure what aspect of the game appeals so strongly to me, but I just love to see them play this. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that they never sat down and made up the game, it just evolved, but they all agree on the rules that have never been established, and they play so cooperatively. Plus, they're so darn cute running around the playground like a little pack of happy puppies.
Five days till classes start. Not that I'm counting or anything.
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no subject
Date: 2006-08-24 08:23 am (UTC)So when are you making the Olympic application.
no subject
Date: 2006-08-24 12:14 pm (UTC)Great! Lecture material!
Date: 2006-08-24 01:54 pm (UTC)Re: Great! Lecture material!
Date: 2006-08-25 12:24 pm (UTC)Re: Great! Lecture material!
Date: 2006-08-25 01:45 pm (UTC)You know us child development types, we always want to know ages!
Re: Great! Lecture material!
Date: 2006-08-25 02:30 pm (UTC)