What is the “Peaceful Playground” Program?
The Peaceful Playgrounds provides an organized playground with appealing games and activities. Through these, incidents of playground conflict and injury are reduced and children develop motor, social, and cognitive skills.
Peaceful Playgrounds is a positive behavior support program that is implemented school wide. All staff, students, and supervisors engage in regular cycles of training and review of basic program components including review of the game rules and procedures.
What are the benefits of the Peaceful Playground program?
One of the ways in which children learn to play and work cooperatively is through positive recreational experiences. Since disagreements are more likely to occur in unstructured environments, Peaceful Playgrounds provides a setting that encourages skills in conflict resolution.
Through the activities in the program, the school community is introduced to a consistent set of rules, conflict resolution strategies, and expectations for appropriate behavior.
Children practice skills in problem solving and responsible behavior that expand from the playground to the classroom, home, and community.
What strategies for conflict resolution are recommended through the Peaceful Playground program?
The following three strategies, used in any sequence, are among the kid-friendly ways that children can solve their problems:* Walk: The student can simply walk away from a conflict situation.
* Talk: The student can choose to resolve a conflict by talking it over with the involved parties.
* Rock, Paper, Scissors: The students can have one quick round of this hand signal game; the winner gets to select the solution to the disagreement.