One sunny day during recess, a group of Custer Elementary students were playing the new game Ro-Sham-Bo Relay. Kids ran around a half-circle of hula hoops, playing rock-paper-scissors to determine who got to continue the relay and who had to return to the back of the line.

The students were having a blast, giggling and smiling and running around.

“It makes lots of laughs!” said third-grader Emma.

Ro-Sham-Bo Relay is one of about 20 new games from the California nonprofit Playworks that Custer has slowly implemented into recess this school year. Custer paraeducators said these games increase participation at recess and reduce behavioral concerns.

“Our behaviors have become far less of a problem, because we’re seeing more participation across the board,” said paraeducator Stephanie Butenschoen. “Our kids are busy – they have positive choices instead of seeking out negative actions.”

Playworks staff have worked with Ferndale’s elementary schools (and Lummi Nation School) this year thanks to a grant from Project Aware. Playworks, which collaborates with 1,304 schools around the country, gives schools the rules and supplies for a set of unique playground games that emphasize safety, engagement, and empowerment. Nonprofit staff then train school staff on how to implement these games naturally into their recess.

“We like to focus on inclusion through games,” said Cali Hodge, program specialist with Playworks Pacific Northwest. “So instead of kids pointing and yelling “you’re out,” we encourage them to say ‘nice try,’ or ‘good job’ and giving a high five.”

In the late summer and fall, Playworks trainers visited Ferndale elementary campuses to teach staff the Playworks philosophy, along with all the games. One major tenet of Playworks games is teaching students conflict resolution. So instead of students bickering over a ball going out of bounds, they play a quick game of rock-paper-scissors to solve the problem and quickly move on.

“Play is a foundational place to practice social skills and social-emotional development, and that then gets transferred back into the classroom as well,” Hodge said.

“Part of what makes these games different is they don’t put as much emphasis on the winner or the loser,” added Custer paraeducator Cara Stuit. “It’s more about playing the game.”

These games also encourage continuous play, rather than lots of stopping and starting. And they are easy for any student to learn and easily jump into, regardless of if the game started a while ago, noted Karen Teshera, Dean of Students at Skyline Elementary.

Stuit and Butenschoen said these unique aspects of Playworks games have engaged students who hadn’t previously enjoyed playground activities.

“We still have the old playground games we’ve had in the past, but those games drew in maybe 50% of our students,” said Butenschoen. “The Playworks games helps bring even more participation. Because the games vary so differently, you’re tapping into a larger percentage of our students.”

Another unique aspect of Playworks are Junior Coaches – older elementary students who volunteer to teach these games to their younger classmates. This teaches valuable leadership skills to older students, who are learning to become role models.

“We’re creating a leadership program where students get to learn how to be a leader in a positive way. That helps those students with their self-esteem,” Butenschoen said. “And for our little kids – all of them would much rather listen to a 5th grader than an adult.”

Hodge said that Playworks believes strongly in the importance of play in school.

“Play is a core place to establish community and belonging,” she said. “The ripple effects of what happens at recess can spill out in the rest of the school.”