- Dress-up race
I have a few. Sports Day should be about fun, teams, joining in. Hence the Carousel, where you get to try out fun stuff, with friends. I will happily put on the wig, jump in a sack, throw the foam javelin, and waddle with a balloon between my knees in the name of sporting fun. I may be quite good; I may not, but I will have fun nontheless.
The Bug did well this year. Not fast, but with a really good strategy, he won the egg-and-spoon, the bean-bag on head, the sack race. M&D made a pact not to label us: the Bug=athletic, me=academic. It would do no good. But the temptation was there.
The PTA had some ideas for Sports Day this year. They took note last time of the shivering mums, craving a coffee on the sidelines, and pitched up with hot drinks and croissants to pass the time and ease the shivers. It went down well.
I have a few ideas of my own for Sports Day:
- Balancing Strategy
Afterthe carousel games, when you move on to the competitive races, watch the children. Notice how many of them are in floods of tears. We are only 6 and we have been out here for 2 hours. Teach us how to celebrate winners, but teach us how to lose. Give the winners medals, but give everyone a sticker. Yes we need to learn, but cushion the blow. We have only just learned to share, and sometimes even that is a stretch. A sticker and a chocolate biscuit goes a long way towards lessening the impact at our age.
So learn from the PTA. Sports day is great – as long as there is sustenance for the body as well as the soul!
C’mon my son. 3 out of 4, what a result!
“teach us how to lose” hear hear. I would have enjoyed sports day far more if there had been a Wagon Wheel to reward my consistently rubbish efforts on both track and field.
For a Wagon Wheel I might even have run faster and stood a chance of winning 😉
meh heh heh lolsepoop :3
Lovely post. Yes, it is all about how these life lessons are served up. Not that the rest of their lives will always come with such cushioning when they aren’t winning. But a gentle introduction must surely help build up good self-esteem and that in itself is a cushion to the blows that life can dole out to all of us.
*writes note to PTA ” coffee & croissants on sports day please “. Yep I reckon I might have enjoyed sports day a bit if there had been chocolate biscuits involved.
Coffee and crossaints?! I’m coming to your Sports Day next year!!
Our school had an Olympics theme this year. There were heats the week before to determine the events kids would participate in. You could tell which kids didn’t do so well, they got to do standing jump. Others got to take part in 2, 3 and 4 events and had neck strain from the medals. Not a sticker in sight either. You can guess that there were tears.
On the positive side though, the Big One got gold in his only event and it wasn’t the standing jump!
Yay!!! Go Five!!