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(Unit 7) Topic 6: Ready Set Go: Playing Games in the Classroom ​

2 Clock Hours of Early Childhood Education

Rules of the Game

​Topic 6 Page 11

Play in all forms, including games, will inspire imagination and creativity. Most teachers have experienced a child’s imagination redirecting game rules or even making up their own. Supporting this creativity and independent thought is beneficial for development.  

It is important to remember:

• ​Imagination and creativity are part of development
• While the activity should be supervised, take a step back and observe the interactions that take place, only stepping in if necessary
• Keeping the rules to a minimum will ensure that the kids have creative liberty to make the game something they enjoy and will learn from
• Encouraging creativity by asking questions and showing an interest will reinforce the behavior

There are situations when this behavior may be an issue, one of those being when a child intentionally changes the rules so that they will win the game. Some options to remedy this issue may be to have children play on teams of two so they will hold focus more on the teamwork aspect of the game or perhaps having the children quickly make some rules at the beginning of the game and include the idea of not being allowed to change the rules once the game starts.  

• Introducing Games to Kids, Parents' Choice Foundation
• Good Behavior Games for Preschoolers, By Jacqueline Burt Wang and Megan Tucker from Parents Magazine
• The Importance of Rules in Games, Family Education, Sandbox Networks, Inc
• The Importance of Playing Games with Your Preschooler, Family Education, Sandbox Networks, Inc
• 6 Following Directions Games for Kids, Coffee Cups and Crayons