Activity in School Age Programs

School-age educators spend much of their time creating new activities for children, searching books and websites for inspiration. Developing and implementing activities often takes educators away from their work with children. 

How can school-age educators create child-directed activities in the classroom and reclaim their time working with children?

In this article, I share five practices that have been an essential part of my work as a full-time school-age educator and support the children in our program. I hope that sharing these practices will begin a conversation about creating activities in school-age care, and I hope they enhance your work in the classroom.

The classroom environment promotes ideas, collaborative work, and exploration. 

The classroom environment needs to be an inviting space that draws children in by its possibilities. A pleasing environment features small quantities of organized attractive-looking materials. Having small amounts of materials invites children to explore and create, encourages the children to work together, and share common interests. The classroom space also becomes a gateway for social interaction when you curate the quantity of materials.

Some children may struggle in a new classroom environment, especially at the beginning of the transformation. Changing the environment creates an opportunity for educators to talk with children about materials and their role in our work together. 

Invite children to choose their work.

We offer a variety of choices in our program. We offer a few planned activities, but most of our classroom work is spontaneous. Our priority is to invite children to choose their work and who they want to work with. Choosing work creates an opportunity for children to share common interests, collaborate, and innovate. 

Is it possible that some children will choose to explore one material for an extended period? The answer is yes and no. Yes, some children may spend an entire year exploring the same material. Even if this happens, other children will come and go into their workspace. A child who explores a material extensively is attractive for other children to talk to and collaborate with. A child who concentrates on one material will have deep thoughts about their work to share with other children. The truth is most children will not spend a whole year exploring one material or anything else. Children will spend as much time as necessary to explore the possibilities of a material and then explore new materials, making social connections along the way. 

Support work in the classroom by guiding children as they negotiate friendships.

Children play and work with others each day and sometimes need to solve a problem with a friend. Depending on their age and the situation, children may need our help. Our role as educators is to be a guide, not a rule czar. The tendency for some educators, especially in school-age care, is to be a rule keeper. We have rules, and "you will follow them," many educators tell the children. When a real problem occurs, it tends to be a social misunderstanding that a list of rules does not address. Sharing a list of rules does not change the social structure of the program. It is more beneficial to help a child who wonders why her best friend will not talk to her right now. As educators, we can bring children together and guide them to solve a problem with a friend. We create a caring learning community of people who want to help each other by guiding children. Rules will never do that.

Educators support children's activities by working in small groups.

Often in school-age care, our practices mimic those in a traditional classroom. In many programs' educators invite large groups of children to build the same project together. I would encourage all educators to collaborate with four or fewer children at one time. Working with fewer children invites the educator to talk with children and get to know them better. Another related practice is inviting older children to guide younger children. An approach that benefits both children and builds the strength of the learning community. 

Have a group meeting or gathering each day for children and educators to share project work and talk. 

In school-age care, the number of children in one program can be huge. The gathering is an opportunity for children to come together and create a personal connection by sharing their work. In our meeting, children share what is important to them. When children share, other children ask questions. Children also share positive comments about each other's work that motivate children to contribute to a large learning community and all new projects in the future.   

 What are the ingredients of inspiring activity in your classroom?