Let me paint a picture for you. Some boys are desperate to go outside.
Playtime is announced. The temperature is minus ten outside, but these children forgo the warmth of a coat, and in their wake younger children are left in a heap on the ground. Once outside, there is a race to see who can get a bike first.
But the children are not content with any old bike; there is a pecking order to them. There will be a bike that is the best - let's call it the red bike. There will be another bike that isn't quite as good - let's call it the orange bike. And then there is the green bike - this is the worst bike and you are considered strange if you go on it. So the race is on for the best bikes.
Once seated, a child then spends the entire time trying to hold on to that bike. This may involve riding round so fast and so apparently deaf that no calls from staff are ever heard, and the reprimand afterwards is offset by the glory of holding on to the bike for the entire outdoor time.
It may involve being somewhat sneaky. The child, having been asked to get off the bike, promptly goes to another member of staff to plead for a bike, to then be given the same bike back.
It may involve sitting on the bike but hiding from everyone, maybe behind the shed, simply to keep possession of it. Some children, having refused to get off the bike voluntarily, have to be physically removed, and can get a seriously good knee and hand grip so they and the bike are lifted off the ground. Some children would rather wait for the best bike and end up having no time on a bike even if the 'worst' bike is available.
The playground starts to feel like the M25, with bikes whizzing about and no opportunity to converse with the children. The more reticent children can be pinned against the fence. Lots of children could get hurt.
The ordeal comes to an end, and, with gritted teeth, you start the job of putting, no, throwing the bikes into the shed. This is heavy work and bikes build up ever closer to your ankles as the children are told to park them by the shed. With the final bike thrown, you grab the lock and, with a mighty heave, manage to close and lock the shed. 'I did it!' you say to yourself, smiling, knowing it is four days until your next stint outside.
This happens day after day after day.
Why is this happening?
It would seem that bikes have status. I have worked with practitioners from all over Britain and all know this scene. No member of staff has told children that bikes are a status toy and there is a pecking order to them, yet somewhere along the line this is what has come to be gospel.
The possession of this status toy gives status to the owner. It makes the owner feel good about themselves. Hence they are reluctant to get off. Once off, they do not feel so good about themselves. Being on the bike gives them a sense of freedom, speed and hence power. There is often little else for them to do outside, and so they have no choice but to fight for the few toys available. Some haven't had their imaginations developed and so they stay with something they know about and feel comfortable with.
The trouble is, this scene is acted out every day, mostly for the same children, with the less forceful children rarely gaining access to a bike.
It is very difficult to see what positive things they are learning from the experience. Yes, they will be learning about pedalling, direction and turning. But they will also be learning about being first, being devious and being selfish.
If this is happening in your setting, it is time to call a halt to it.
What can I do?
First, be reassured that you do not have to provide bikes, or at least you do not have to have three-wheelers, nor 15 of them. I am not sure why we have gathered so many in our nursery gardens, but there is much more to outdoor play than bikes and a climbing frame. Outdoors needs to be a complete learning environment where children can play imaginatively, build, design, garden, study, contemplate and exercise.
Bikes are not on my resource list for outdoor play. You have to decide what you are trying to achieve with the children and how particular resources can do this. So, for example, trucks are much more helpful - children can use them imaginatively, alone or with friends. They help children to develop co-operative social skills, and with two or three children in a truck the child who is pulling will get plenty of heart, lung, bone and muscle exercise! They can also learn about mathematics and science when filling and unfilling trucks.
I would consider having three-wheelers for under-threes or in areas where children do not have access to bikes at home. But I would think hard about when and where they were used.
I know a school that holds 'bike time' just for children to whizz about and not disturb anyone else playing. This is at a separate time to outdoor play. I know of schools that cordon off an area for bike play. I would warn against holding 'bike days', as this seems to encourage children to do little on the non-bike days, waiting for the bike day to happen, asking constantly when it will be bike day. It is as though they have lost the ability to use their imaginations, to think about an alternative form of play.
Another way to solve this problem is to make bikes more interesting. For example, a bike could have a box strapped to the front or back and become a pizza delivery bike, a dispatch ride, a post bike or an ice cream 'van'. In this way the bike isn't just a speed and status machine; it can be incorporated into imaginative play, enabling the riders to converse, think and solve problems. You could introduce a rule that a bike has to be attached to a truck, encouraging co-operative play.
How about having two-wheelers? There is no reason why an under-five should not be able to ride a two-wheeler. Achieving this skill gives an incredible sense of confidence. Or if you want children to develop pedalling skills, how about creating an exercise bike by removing a bike frame from its wheels and attaching it to a heavy frame?
Alternative provision Make sure you have enough for the children to do in the garden, so that bikes lose their status. Have good- quality imaginative play, with lots of building and construction materials so children feel good about their own designs, constructions and games.
Make sure you get involved in the children's play, and offer imaginative scenes for them. So often we create imaginative scenes that don't always interest boys, or they feel awkward about being part of them. We need to set up MOT stations, garages and building sites to help those children who enjoy more active imaginative play.
Plan for outdoor play, offer a variety of activities and be outside for as long as possible and at the same time as indoor play. Find out what opportunities children have for bike play at home, to ascertain what the needs of the children really are.
If you take this approach, outdoor time won't be about the survival of the fittest, but about children calmly but actively playing and learning. NW Helen Bilton is an educational consultant and trainer
Ideas for change
* Remove all bikes
* Provide two-wheelers
* Only provide bikes with an attachment
* Incorporate bikes into imaginative play, delivering pizza, letters, ice cream, flowers, food
* Provide an exercise bike
* Have a bike area away from the main outdoor play area
* Have a bike time
* Have a variety of planned activities going on outside every day
* Have inside and outside play available at the same time
* Get involved with children's imaginative play - particularly the boys
* Find out what opportunities children have when playing outside at home