Polly Bath: First grade, at recess time in the winter, what’s it look like?

[laughter]

It’s time for what I call the snowsuit wars. These kids have got to put on all this equipment to get out there at recess. If they don’t, they can’t play in the snow, and that’s the worst thing you can do. We have to figure out how to get them over this hurdle.

I do something with little kids called my “dress-up bulletin board,” where I take a picture of the kids in each stage of getting dressed for winter. In each stage, which means that you come to me and we take a picture of you just regular. Then, we take a picture in your snow pants. Then, your boots are on, and then your hat is on, and then your jacket is on, and then your mittens are on.

They love this bulletin board because they’ll come to me and they’re crying, “I can’t get my boots on.”
“Well, that’s because you have your mittens on. Go find your picture on the bulletin board, and see where you are, and figure it out.”

Again, solve the problem. But if you spend a great amount of time in a week doing that in the beginning of winter, then you actually can solve a lot of the behavioral issues that you have as a result of not being able to get dressed.