The day is hot, humid, and brightly sunny. Definitely not a day to take the kids outside and go running around having sack races and whatnot. But when you throw in water, the rules change for the best!
Even if your school doesn't have a Splash Day (or Field Day), you can have your own! Here are some tips to help keep everyone cool and safe when you're outside on the playground.
1. Keep a water sprayer to spritz the children. You'll find them running up to you and yelling, "Do me!" (Hint: Don't give any water pistols to the kids. Otherwise you might end up with hurt feelings and maybe an eye injury.)
2. Hand-size sponges are cheap. Get several so they can get them wet and squeeze them over other children's heads. The picture you see here is of a relay race where members of two teams dunk a huge sponge into a big bucket of water to get it soaking wet, put the sponge on their heads, race to the other end where they squeeze out the water, and hand the dry sponge over to the next person in line, who runs to the other end to get it wet. Winner is the team with the most water in their return bucket, not the one who finishes first.
3. Dont forget your sunglasses and hats! And lots of sunscreen!
4.Give them several breaks to go to the water fountain. Or provide popsicles. (A cheap alternative - those frozen tubes of ice.)
5. Make sure you've notified the parents ahead of time so the children can bring towels and/or an extra change of clothing. Oh, and flipflops might be more appropriate than closed-in shoes.
6. Finally, limit your time outdoors to 20-30 min. before you seek shade or shelter. Watch the kids' faces for signs of heat stress. If a student looks like he's overdoing it, having him sit out.
7. Most importantly, have fun!
