Playground supervision of school aged kids (5 and up)

[Anonymous]

It's one thing if a five or six year old is on a playground with kids their own age, but what if they're with kids who are much younger? Does it still make sense to let them play mostly unsupervised? I'm not trying to lead anyone to a certain answer; as a FTM of a young 2 year old, I'm still new at this and trying to figure things out.

Yes, it does. However, playing mostly unsupervised doesn't mean you don't keep an eye on them in case issues arise. It means you aren't hovering over them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It's one thing if a five or six year old is on a playground with kids their own age, but what if they're with kids who are much younger? Does it still make sense to let them play mostly unsupervised? I'm not trying to lead anyone to a certain answer; as a FTM of a young 2 year old, I'm still new at this and trying to figure things out.

Yes, it does. However, playing mostly unsupervised doesn't mean you don't keep an eye on them in case issues arise. It means you aren't hovering over them.

Right. I doubt many parents are just leaving their kids that age at the playground with literally no supervision. They mean that they are sitting on a bench nearby, enjoying their coffee and chatting with other parents, and not hovering.

We've been going to a playground that has an area marked for 2-5 year-olds. I don't supervise my now-five-year-old closely, even though there are two-year-olds (and younger) there. It's an appropriate place for her to play, and I don't feel the need to run interference between her and the toddlers. She's not going to break them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. Thanks for the input. DD is only 2 so I'm not familiar with how it is with older kids. The playground we regularly go to is for younger kids, like under 5, and these kids tend to be pretty well supervised. Maybe 20% of the kids who come to the playground are on the older side and they are much less supervised. A repeat scenario I've seen is where an older kid (like 5 or 6) is being annoying, but not dangerous to a much younger kid and refuses to back down when reproached by the caregiver of the younger child. For example, blocking the one slide on the playground so no one can use it. When it happens to me and DD, I ask politely at first for the kid to stop and if he doesn't, I tell him he's not being nice and take DD away. It's kind of an awkward situation because most kids who are so much younger are not going to stand up to a five or six year old and the caregiver can do only so much. It's one thing if a five or six year old is on a playground with kids their own age, but what if they're with kids who are much younger? Does it still make sense to let them play mostly unsupervised? I'm not trying to lead anyone to a certain answer; as a FTM of a young 2 year old, I'm still new at this and trying to figure things out.

I have an almost 5 year old who does like to climb up slides and might be "blocking" it from time to time. I think it's good for him to use the play equipment as he likes and good for other kids/parents to ask him to move over, make room for someone else coming down the slide, share the space, etc. Kids that age are still working on the concept of taking turns, sharing space, etc. and they need to learn to navigate social interactions like and practice positive responses. It's totally fine to say, "excuse me" or to directly ask a kid to move over so your 2 year old can slide. Also a good idea to diffuse conflict with humor or fun (as a PP suggested, present the bigger kid with a "ticket" to pass, etc.) Imagine, if your child was old enough to engage with a 5 year old, how would you hope she would resolve the situation? Then model that behavior. I know sometimes dealing with bigger kids and their dramas/social experiments can be annoying, but it's part of playing in public spaces. Consider it all part of the learning experience for your 2 year old.

[jjconcern]

You have received many good replies to your post about supervision so I will try not to repeat. For the most part silent supervision,where you become part of the background, is the best way to go once children reach 4 or 5 yrs of age when they are experienced enough to know what is safe play. Observing rather than interfering unless your child is being bullied by a group of children at which time you need to step in to let the troublemakers know that your child will be defended and that their behavior is unacceptable. Otherwise observe what happens and talk to your child afterwards about how they handled a problem situation and what they might do instead if it happened to them the next time- rather than to interfere at the time. If they themselves are misbehaving-step in to let them know that people don't act that way to others so that they learn what is unacceptable behavior. Even as adolescents, your teens need to know that you trust them but that your job as a smart parent will be to know what they are doing- such as randomly checking phone and email, social media. Your supervision job doesn't end in elementary school if you are wise. Spoken as a school psychologist in a large high school and mother of 3 grandmother of 9. Best wishes to you in your parenting journey!!