As I was setting up my classroom this year, I felt as if I were a beginning teacher. There were so many new issues to think about and plan for. One of the things that was central to my planning was figuring out a safe way for my young pre-k students to continue to have opportunities to play!
In my district, any child over the age of two must wear a mask when on a school campus. My students are all ages 3-5, so this includes my class. We also are required to meet social distancing requirements to the greatest extent possible. This was the biggest challenge in planning my center time this year.
I have referenced the TATS site, my district's guidance plan and of course my knowledge of the benefits of visual supports and the importance of developmentally appropriate practice. My students start Monday, so this is not kid tested yet! I may come back next week with a new plan.
In previous years, I had a colorful ABC carpet in this center and would typically have enough materials and space for 4 children to play productively. This year I rolled up the carpet and am storing it because I felt like it would be too visually distracting. We have reduced the amount of blocks and supplemental toys in the center and have reduced the center to two students. I want the students to learn a new procedure of entering the center, so I wanted the visuals and the painters tape to be prominently seen.
The materials in the center are two bins of lightweight foam blocks and some cars and trucks. One child will be able to play on one side of the painter's tape while another child can play on the other side. This is not supporting cooperative play, but at this moment, it was the best I could come up with and still meet the social distancing guidelines I must adhere to.
I chose the foam blocks over the unit blocks because I have a ton of them! I also chose them because our toy storage rotation system is on top of cabinets and it will be much easier to lift the lightweight foam blocks than the heavy wooden unit blocks.
My current plan is to only allow the two children who choose blocks to play with these toys. When they are finished, they will go in a laundry bin to be sprayed with our disinfectant and then sit out of the rotation for 3 days. If the student does not want to stay in blocks for the entire center time, he or she will be able to choose another available center, or chose a personal play bucket that we set up for each child.
I will post more pictures on the toy rotation system we are planning, other centers, and the individual play buckets later!
