One at a Time Down the Slide

Children use the park slide following a circuit with rules: climb the ladder, slide down sitting feet first, get out of the way fast and come back around a tree. It works on coordination while climbing and sliding and on using playground equipment safely.

How to play

1. In front of the slide, the teacher climbs up and slides down to show the rules and points out the tree or bench we go around to get back in line (2 min).
2. Climb the ladder one at a time with both hands holding on, and slide down sitting with feet first (4 min).
3. At the bottom, stand up right away, step aside and go back to the line around the tree moving like an animal: bunny, duck or cat (3 min).
4. The teacher says how to slide: hands on knees, arms up like on a roller coaster, or shouting your name nice and loud (3 min).
5. Each child takes a last slide, then we sit by the tree and count the rules on our fingers (2 min).

Rules

• We climb the ladder, never up the slide.
• We slide sitting down with feet first.
• At the bottom, we move away right away so the next friend can come down.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: if the slide isn't accessible, an adult carries the child up and down or uses an adaptive ground-level slide; otherwise they do the loop around the tree.
• Autism: preview the order of the line with photos and let them slide the first few times with the teacher waiting at the bottom.
• Visual impairment: an adult goes up the ladder with them, describing each step, and tells them at the bottom when it's safe to let go.

Learning goals

• Climb and slide with control.
• Use the slide safely and follow the rules.
• Wait for a turn in line.

Teacher tip

Make sure the slide isn't hot from the sun or wet. Keep one adult at the top platform and one at the bottom: two kids sliding into each other is the usual problem, and the lookout's 'Go!' prevents it.

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