I am writing this Grant in hopes to purchase equipment and supplies for our Kindergarten and TK playground for outdoor play. Most activities mainly focus on enhancing gross motor skills. Gross motor skills are movements that involve the whole body. For example- jumping, running, throwing, kicking, catching and walking. This equipment will give the students exposure to a variety of activities and opportunities for play on the playground.
Research shows that growth in executive brain function peaks at early ages. More complex gross motor activity can have a positive impact on brain functions. Activities that are meant for motor development improve gross motor skills more adequately than typical activity. Having more opportunities for play and exploration on the playground gives children confidence, teaches them teamwork and cooperation, and gives them the opportunity to work and play together, increasing social skills and positive interactions. Which can also lead to less behaviors on the playground.
If we can provide more opportunities for children to grow through outdoor complex play opportunities, this will benefit children in the short and long term. Research states that gross motor play opportunities play a role in executive functions, prosocial behaviors, and intellectual abilities. These are all important cognitive skills that can overlap with classroom processes. We hope to see an improvement in overall success in behaviors, classroom engagement, learning and peer interactions.
The equipment will be used at TK and Kindergarten recesses. We will rotate the items available to students to keep them organized and taken care of. We will set out 2-3 gross motor and exploration stations daily. The students will be introduced to the items available to them in the beginning of the school year, so they know how to take care of them and use them properly. The equipment will be available to all Kindergarten and TK teachers and students and can be used for individual classroom outside play as well. For example, teacher led organized outside games. The students will have two whistles at the end of recess. One for cleaning up and one for lining up. To ensure the items are picked up and stored properly.
This equipment will be shared with all TK and Kindergarten Classes. Averaging about 125 students. $343.27 per a class.
There are not any other funding sources that I am aware of at this time.
I could not DL the PDF because my file size was too big. Please use this link to access the document so you can see the attached links to cost of each item. Please let me know if you have any questions. I'm excited about this opportunity for our Early Childhood student population at GES. Thank you for your consideration.
Please scan down to page 2 on the document. The formating won't let me bring the table up to page 1. Thank you!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CQDijXbOc1ME1qL_Ob1kwvUhsJtW9WyocWJOTGo0PRw/edit?usp=sharing