Playing games together
Physical Education · Early Years · The School
Rules make it work
A game needs RULES. Everyone agrees them before you start. Where can you run? What counts as being caught? When does it stop? Without rules the game turns into an argument. With rules everyone knows what is happening. Agreeing the rules first is part of playing. It is not a delay before it.
Taking turns
In most games you wait for your turn. You share the equipment. Waiting is genuinely hard when you want a go. It is a skill and it gets easier with practice. Watch carefully while you wait. You can learn a lot from the person having their turn.
Winning and losing
Usually someone wins and someone loses. Both happen to everyone in the end. Saying well played when you lose is harder than saying it when you win. It is also what makes people want to play with you again. The game matters much less than how you play it.
Play tag for one minute with no rules agreed at all. No boundary. No rule about how long you stay on. Nobody keeping track. Within a minute it stops working. People run off. Arguments start. Nobody knows who is winning. Now agree three rules and play again. The rules did not spoil the game. They are what made a game out of running about.