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MAA
Michigan AfterSchool Association
Dear Mi Saydi,
Ideally we want to have outside time everyday for our after school children, but due to lack of staff to cover both outside and in we are unable to offer it Tues/Thurs. Is there anything in the licensing book that "requires" us to offer outside/gym time on a consistent/daily basis?
Thank you
Cheryl
Hi Cheryl,
The Michigan Licensing Rules for Child Care Centers address outside time. Rule number 400.5106(6) states, "The center shall provides daily outdoor play when children are in attendance for 5 or more continuous hours per day, unless prevented by inclement weather or other weather conditions that could result in children becoming overheated or excessively chilled." However, since we all know that going outside and being physically active is best for children/youth I would highly recommend that you and your staff brainstorm with students how you might accomplsh getting them outside on those days when staffing is light. Perhaps you can recruit some senior citizen or church group to volunteer to come in on Tuesday and Thursday each week for an hour. Then a staff person can go outside with a small group of students and a volunteer can help either inside or outside whereever the most students choose to be.
At one center I observed a unique system where students could go in an out at will and the staff took turns outside. Staff communicated with a two-way radio to limit the numbers inside and out to maintain staff to student ratios. I hope this helps.
SAYDI
