Playground supervision of school aged kids (5 and up)

[Anonymous]

I was curious how much parents supervise school-aged kids (like 5 or 6 and up) at the playground.  I've read comments on this forum along the lines of "let kids figure things out themselves", from which I inferred less intervention than for younger children, and for some, this might mean less supervision.  Reason I ask is because I have seen a few incidents at the playground involving kids this age whose parents/caregivers don't seem to be watching them at all.  Most recently, four kids (ages about 5-8) started pushing then punching each other in the sandpit where I was sitting with my DD.  When they started throwing sand at each other, I told them to stop in a raised voice as they were getting sand on the rest of us.  At that point, the parent of one child came over and rebuked her son.  The kids stopped fighting, but a few minutes later, one of the kids started throwing sand again.  I told him again to stop, he laughed and left.  I did not see his or any other caregiver besides the aforesaid one anywhere.  And if it matters, this particular playground is geared towards the under 5 set; these kids were among the oldest there.

[Anonymous]

I have a 5 year old and if it is a playground he knows well, i don't micromanage him and instead tend to his little brother who is 2.
I will push him on the swings but other than that, he can go play where he wants. If i saw him misbehaving and throwing sand I woudl step in and stop it but lets be honest. At that age, they don't need a parent hovering over them and they WILL test limits and boundaries. Does NOT make it right but they are kids and i am sure the parents were happy you said something to the kids.
Many times we go to the park so they can run off energy and having 2 kids of different ages makes it impossible to be with both at all times so of course parents will tend to the younger kids and let the older ones explore.

[Anonymous]

I keep an eye on 8 year old DS, but only intervene if there is trouble. Last time we were at the park a younger kid (maybe around 5) decided to hit DS while he was on a piece of equipment the kid wanted to use. I ignored it, and DS told the kid to get away from him. The mom ran over, and although she corrected her own child, then proceeded to extensively question DS about what had happened. I found it rather annoying and wanted her to leave DS alone.

[Anonymous]

I generally let my kids, 4 and 7, play unsupervised. If I hear a commotion, I'll look and if my kids are involved, I'll intervene/make them stop/make them apologize.

I also think kids should learn to work out social situations by themselves, and it needs to start some time. Age 5 seems to be a reasonable time to let them loose, proverbially speaking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I generally let my kids, 4 and 7, play unsupervised. If I hear a commotion, I'll look and if my kids are involved, I'll intervene/make them stop/make them apologize.

I also think kids should learn to work out social situations by themselves, and it needs to start some time. Age 5 seems to be a reasonable time to let them loose, proverbially speaking.

+1. Personally, I think it's good for them to learn that if they act up one possible consequence of this is that an annoyed parent will tell them off or that if they're not playing nicely some other kid might yell at them or not want to play with them. Unless someone is going to get badly hurt, there's nothing wrong with kids simply learning from life itself due to the results of their choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I generally let my kids, 4 and 7, play unsupervised. If I hear a commotion, I'll look and if my kids are involved, I'll intervene/make them stop/make them apologize.

I also think kids should learn to work out social situations by themselves, and it needs to start some time. Age 5 seems to be a reasonable time to let them loose, proverbially speaking.

+1. Personally, I think it's good for them to learn that if they act up one possible consequence of this is that an annoyed parent will tell them off or that if they're not playing nicely some other kid might yell at them or not want to play with them. Unless someone is going to get badly hurt, there's nothing wrong with kids simply learning from life itself due to the results of their choices.

+2

I am not about to hover over my 5 and 7 year old kids at a playground. We are at the point that they know stuff like throwing sand is not allowed, AND that any other unacceptable behavior means we are going home.

[Anonymous]

My kid is a pretty good kid (she doesn't throw sand at others, she doesn't push, etc.), so I tend to be pretty hands-off. I keep an eye on her, but I don't intervene unless it looks like something is doing something that might get someone hurt. I let her deal with petty kid annoyances on her own; if she wants help, she's demonstrated that she knows how to ask.

[Anonymous]

I have 4 kids. Kids over 5 or 6 don't need active supervision on the playground.

That being said, if you are in or near the sandpit and someone throws sand , you can/should always tell them sternly NO. I always do. It takes a village.

[Anonymous]

I try to give my kids the space to solve their own problems. I would step in if things seemed to be getting physically dangerous (above a scuffle.)

[Anonymous]

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.

[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.

OP, I think you're doing just fine. We were all you, and you sound reasonable and nice, but try to remember that 5 and 6 year olds are not "big kids." I get Annoyed when a bratty kid is unsupervised near me too, but just try to remember how little they are. For the kid who is blocking the slide, you could try engaging them - ask their name, tell them your kids name, etc. I think you'll see how young 5 really is if you engage. But in general, I think a parent should have their eye on a kid that age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

OP, I think you're doing just fine. We were all you, and you sound reasonable and nice, but try to remember that 5 and 6 year olds are not "big kids." I get Annoyed when a bratty kid is unsupervised near me too, but just try to remember how little they are. For the kid who is blocking the slide, you could try engaging them - ask their name, tell them your kids name, etc. I think you'll see how young 5 really is if you engage. But in general, I think a parent should have their eye on a kid that age.

Sometimes you can also engage in pretend to diffuse the situation, for example, by offering your "ticket" to the slide gatekeeper.

[Anonymous]

Regardless of age, lots of parents don't think they need to supervise. I agree with you and would have spoken up.

[Anonymous]

Op kids who are 5 are little too. You will see very soon. So yes they should be supervised.

[Anonymous]

We have a playground near our house. We can get there in less than 2 mins. We still supervise our kids (ages 5 and 9). We don't interfere with minor squabbles, but we are there in the background. This might seem like overkill to some of you, but this playground backs to woods and there's a lot of wildlife (foxes that attack dogs, snakes, deer, etc.) in the area.