How do you play successfully together? Whose toys are they? Are there enough pieces to share in the first place? Or as with this picture is someone so far into their own play and still have a long way to go that they don’t want anyone else to interact with them? Or is this an example of sibling play where I have worked so extremely hard to do something and I might want to play with you but I don’t know how to integrate Ninja games into this particular activity because it might destroy everything that has taken me so long to create. Or… many variations are possible. We aren’t seeing their history as individuals or their history together.
How much physical space does it take to ‘work’ together when playing the same game?
How many children and adults can safely work within this space? Does it require them to change the way they physically move with each other compared to the previous photo?
So. How big are the rooms within your house? How big are the spaces in your backyard? In your front yard? Do you have one or do your children spend most of their time inside because its not safe for them to be outside? So do they know how to play outside on an oval / within a large park or do they struggle to manage the quantity of space and people because they are not used to it.
How tall is too tall for kids to learn to climb? What environment features other than organised sport e.g. climbing walls allow children or teenagers to climb? Do you have trees in your backyard or in the local area for your kids to climb up? Is that safe for them to do that? Does your local park have extremely tall climbing frames? What are the old versions of children’s playground equipment that used to be available 20-40 years ago that isn’t available now? Why did they go? What is it like for kids to need to navigate bullying at the top of a climbing frame at school? How far is it to fall? What is it like to have a conversation with someone about their exact precise knowledge of where to put every single incremental foot step whilst up at the top of that climbing frame. What happens when the bell rings and everyone needs to get down at the same time? How long does it take? Do people push their way down or are there only a few safe routes down so you are forced to wait. Why is it you that is the one that is forced to wait? Whats your coordination like?
How much space do you need to manage yourself? When working with others being able to sit in a waiting room for a period of time is something that individuals need to learn how to do?
