Preschoolers have fun outdoors

    Abby Charlier makes sure that her students get plenty of exercise. Charlier and her colleague Jean Meek teach a preschool class at Washington Preschool, which is housed in the United Methodist Church?s Wesley Center. A typical January in Iowa does not allow for much outdoor activity, which means that the kids do a lot of their exercise indoors.

    Charlier has been a preschool teacher for five years and has taught at Washington Preschool for three. She and Meek usually teach two sections of preschool, one for 3-year-olds and one for 4-year-olds. This year, there were not enough kids to make two sections, so they have all the kids come to one section in the morning. Eighteen kids attend her class.

    Her class meets for three hours per day from Monday through Thursday. In the spring and fall, 30 minutes of the day is dedicated to playing outdoors. The kids usually pass the time having fun on the playground equipment.

    ?We have a climbing cube, a playhouse, a teeter-totter, riding toys and various hoops and balls to play with,? said Charlier. ?They?re not usually bored.? 

    In the winter, the kids only spend about 10 minutes outdoors. On Tuesday morning, the class?s outdoor activity was walking to the square and back. Charlier said they?re not able to go outside every day over the winter because some days are too cold. It was just warm enough Tuesday to make the trek outdoors at 25 degrees with little wind. Charlier said the kids don?t go outside if the temperature is below 20 degrees.

    Charlier said the preschoolers walk a couple of times per month. She said there?s no such thing as a ?brisk? walk when speaking of preschoolers, but remarked, ?We try not to dawdle.?

    When the weather is unforgiving, the kids stay inside. They?re still able to move around indoors, though. 

    ?We go for walks in the church,? said Charlier. ?We put on music and the kids dance to it. We also utilize the fellowship hall for playing large games such as relay races, obstacle courses and of course, duck-duck-goose. The kids need to move and they want to move.?

    Something that is not part of Charlier and Meek?s curriculum is nap-time. Charlier said her class doesn?t need a rest period during the day because it?s only a half-day section. 

    Heather Uitermarkt and Tara Henriksen teach a preschool class at Stewart Elementary. Uitermarkt said her preschoolers love to play outside in the winter.

    ?They like to make snow angels and build snowmen,? she said. ?They?re mostly interested in the snow. They also chase each other. We always say, ?Keep your hands to yourself.??

    Uitermarkt said she discourages the kids from playing games such as ?King of the Mountain? that involve pushing and roughhousing.

Uitermarkt and Henriksen are informed over the intercom each day whether recess is outdoors or indoors. Uitermarkt said the wind chill must be greater than 10 degrees for the kids to play outside. When it?s too cold, she has games for them to play inside.

    ?We do music, singing, dancing and exercising inside,? she said. ?We play with instruments, too.?

     The preschoolers at Stewart have what they call a ?parachute? which is a large tarp with handles. In unison, the kids push their end of the tarp in the air, which lifts the center of the parachute as well. The kids play games with the parachute by running underneath it and by placing balls on top of it and then flinging them in the air.

    When the weather is warm, the preschoolers play on the playground equipment or play games with water. Uitermarkt said the kids have a tub that they pour water into and put objects into to see which of them float.

    ?They don?t have water fights, and they don?t get themselves wet, at least not intentionally,? said Uitermarkt.

For more, see our Jan. 26 print edition.