From kindergarten to fifth grade, play time could be found in every classroom on Feb. 5 at East Lake Elementary School in the Massapequa School District. Students, faculty and staff took part in the annual Global School Play Day initiative which is designed to let children explore their creativity, problem-solving skills and social interactions in an unstructured environment.
Students were encouraged to bring in board games, puzzles and toys to play with their classmates. In Kim Cawley’s third grade class, they got together in groups to play classic games like Clue, Guess Who, Sorry and Trouble. In addition to playing games, Grace Falcon’s third graders played with dolls and did magic tricks for each other. Students showed their creative thinking by setting up Jenga blocks in a line and knocking them down like dominoes.
Kindergartners in Paula Findlay’s class played a game of bingo using winter symbols. Valerie Garcia’s fifth graders sat in a circle to play Uno using extra-large cards.
Physical education classes, where play is a daily occurrence, also embraced Global School Play Day with different game stations. Students could play cornhole, knock hockey, shuffleboard and tic-tac-toe, or stack cups to create the tallest tower.
Principal Thomas McKillop and Assistant Principal Mary Velte noted that Global School Play Day is an important annual event at East Lake to recognize the importance of balancing academic rigor with the benefits of play in a child’s overall development. Play is a valuable part of learning, they added, as it promotes social, emotional and thinking growth.