If you are an educator, you know all of the unexpected behaviors that can happen during the twenty minutes of recess. I teach students who struggle with self-regulation. There can be a lot of triggers for students that happen during recess. This intervention tool that I created, was an idea that came from our school psychologist, Sarah How. It is called a Zoning Map for Recess.
Preparations: Create a visual representation for the layout of the recess area. I like to Zone the recess layout into colors. Once you have the recess map personalized to fit your needs, print it in color. Laminate it! I recommending laminating it, because you can draw on it with an expo marker and it will erase. 🙂
How It Works: I utilize a recess zoning map when a student is not allowed in a certain area of the recess grounds. Lets say a student is constantly getting into trouble on the soccer field. The soccer field is taken away for 5 days or however long you want. I would (X) out the soccer field area on the laminated recess map. This will show the student that they are allowed everywhere else during recess, but the soccer field. I usually have the expectation be five days of recess without any incidents and then they can earn the area (soccer field) back.
Now, you might be thinking “what if the student does not follow the expectation of not going on to the soccer field?” This will more than likely happen with some students! Whenever I explain the map to the student, showing them the visual of where they can and cannot go, I reiterate that if they do not follow the expectation of staying away from the off limits area, they will have to sit on the bench the whole recess. If they continue to refuse to sit on the bench, then they don’t get to go to recess with their peers for the next recess.
I really try hard not to take recess away from my students because most of the time, that is a part of their day that is extremely important for them. Recess is a time of day where students interact with each other, get their energy out, and its a chance for students to be in a different environment than in the classroom.
This zoning map is very handy to have on hand. I make multiple copies to have ready to go! If you would like a recess zoning map, click the link below! It will lead you to an editable recess zoning map from my teacher pay teacher store that is free!