Ambrose Academy Martial Life Skills : October 2010

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Children Need to Go All Out - Especially If They're Superheros

It was an intense hour and a half. The hobgoblins, princesses, Jedi, and super heroes descend on the place ready for some fun. Our martial arts school becomes an indoor playground. The only thing missing is the jungle gym. The matted jitsu room becomes the ball room. The main floor becomes a hockey field.

The children are allowed to invite friends to this event, so the rooms were filled with children going amuck. I heard a visiting parent ask, "Is it always this chaotic?"

Why, yes. Yes it is. Controlled Chaos.

Or at least during parties, we let it be chaotic for the first twenty to thirty minutes. I'm a big believer that children need to expend lots of energy. They need to do it with free play. They don't often get that opportunity especially in an indoor setting. But when the time is right, the mood is right, and the place in which it happens is a controlled environment geared toward safety, then I say, let them loose.

And guess what. The energy that has been pent up all day or all week is finally released in the first thirty minutes of frenzy and then they naturally calm down. Plus it sort of cool when in the middle of it all, I shout, "ATTENTION!" and every child in the room stops dead in their tracks and comes to attention. You can hear a pin drop. Impressive.

I sometimes have to remind the children and show the parents that the situation is actually under control. It just doesn't look like it at first glance.

I fixed up one of our changing rooms as "the haunted spot." This year I didn't have time to set up my usual haunted house in the corner of the school, so sibok Rocco suggested I use one of the changing rooms. Perfect - set up in less than an hour.

The children played games, got prizes, and showed off their costumes during the costume contest. Food was flowing a plenty and the children ate with the same degree of fervor.