The importance of playgrounds in schools has been stressed by Wellington, thus "Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton." They are a must in a school campus for the alround development of the personality of the child. While selecting a site for the school and planning its layout due consideration must be given to the provision of spacious playgrounds. A school without playgrounds will suffer from congestion and suffocation. There is justification for playgrounds for the games like hockey, football, kabaddi, etc. The local municipal committee should also arrange to provide open spaces and parks around a school so that the same can be made use of by the public as well as by the school children.
Principles of Organizing Games in Playgrounds
- To satisfy individual needs of children, avariety of games should be provided.
- Our motto should be 'games for all', or 'play for all.'
- Regular time should be given to the games by framing games time table.
- Competitions should be organized frequently but winning of trophies should not become thebe all and end all of these contests.
- Western games should also find a place.
- Students should be associated with theorganization ofgames.
- Supervision of games by competent teachers is very essential to draw the real benefit. Such teachers should get some relief in teaching periods in lieu of that.
- It is a sin to spend the games fund on the few selected sports only.
- The achievement of the students in this field should receive due appreciation and get a mention in their progress reports.
- The teams should be constituted with the students of the same skill and interest as far as possible.