Outside Dramatics

Children usually evolve their own forms of outside drama. Here are a few ideas to help elaborate on their play using simple equipment. Also potentially useful in dealing with trike play when it gets too rowdy.

Objectives

Children ages 5 and up are able to explain social or occupational roles of people, e.g. police officer Cog. II
All of the children can participate in “reading” and following appropriate directions for traffic signs, role playing in specific situations Cog. IV A
and able to follow a line drawn on ground with tricycle.

Materials

Large red and green circles of construction paper labeled STOP and GO; police hats; paper tickets; chalk; tricycles; wagons.

Procedures

1. While children are playing outside suggest that some of them become citizens and one child becomes a police officer. Explain to children that the police are there to make sure all citizens drive safely. "Safely" means that every "car" remains on the "road". Every car stops at red light, goes on green light, and every car is driven slowly enough so as not to bump the car ahead.

2. Chalk several curved lines, 2" wide, intersecting and traversing the area.

Tell children that these lines are streets that they must stay on. If they stray off the streets, the police officer might give them a ticket.

3. Bring out the red and green paper. Ask the children what a red light means when they are driving. A green light? Explain to the kids that these sheets of paper represent traffic lights. Pick out one child to be the "light changer".

4. Have the rest of the children get on their trikes and drive along the "streets". The police officer gets the police hat and tickets and rides or walks (depending on the number of trikes available). The officer may give tickets to any child who is going too fast, riding outside the street, or not following the green and red lights.

5. Children take turns being citizens, police, and light changer. The kids will probably invent more roles (toll taker, tow truck drivers -- wagon tied to trike or trike to trike)

Variations

1. Have children e teachers and do wht teachers do -- (you can sit back and learn).