A Fort Worth kindergarten teacher is taking a playful approach to tackling childhood obesity and bullying, with something called a Peaceful Playground.
Kindergarten teacher Beverly Gavrel is having stencil games painted on the playground blacktop at Phillips Elementary in an effort to improve the playground, make it educational, get children moving, and keep them occupied.
The kids can use the different vignettes, which have anything from numbers to letters inside of them, to build on what they’re learning in the classroom.
"They can learn their telephone number or their lunch number." said Gavrel. "We only have 15-20 minutes of recess everyday. They all come out. Everyone is out. Everyone is busy and there is a game to play for everyone."
Phillips Elementary is the first school in Fort Worth to do something like this. The kids helped raise $4,000 through a walk-a-thon to help buy the kit, stencils and paint.
Peaceful Playgrounds says more than 4 million students play on them in more than 8,000 schools across the country.