She ended the activity session by asking the group "OK, who wants to play bouncy ball again?" (referring to inflatable toys with handles meant for riding) and most of the children responded very enthusiastically.
At the same time, the caretaker approached the two children who seemed more interested in continuing their computer game activity and gently asked them if they wanted to play bouncy ball again. At that time, she indicated to me that she purposely tried to end activities (like the computer games) before any of the children bored of it themselves, which she said kept the children in better spirits and also facilitated their cooperation and interest in the computer games on subsequent days. Both children agreed to put away their computers and lined up single file to exchange a computer for a soft protective helmet....
The caretaker explained to me that the purpose of the lining up was to allow her to help each child select a helmet and fasten it securely. I noticed that she employed a similar selection procedure for helmets that she used for the laptops, after which everybody helped the caretaker unroll the protective mat. According to the caretaker, this procedure also evolved because the children had a tendency to flop around on the mat as soon as it was rolled out, which was safer with helmets already secured.
Everybody seemed to enjoy the bouncy ball game very much but the caretaker was very careful not to let the energy level get too high, eventually transitioning smoothly to a quieter activity involving an animal video guessing game to let everyone settle down before she prepared for lunchtime at 11:45 AM when my…
