In episode PHQP_0029 Sample Staff Fitness Standards, Jeff follows up on a promise made in episode 23 to share sample staff fitness standards.

Watch Now: PHQP_0029 Sample Staff Fitness Standards

Welcome to the Playvolution HQ podcast. I’m Jeff Johnson. Thanks for pushing play on with the show.

So, my dogs Slinky and Gigi are getting old. Slinky was napping today and it was time to go out and I just kind of gave him a little nudge with my foot to wake him up and he just shook like a bowl full of jello and didn’t, I thought he passed away during his nap and I was befuddled and I nudged him again and oh hey, hey boss, ready to go? And we got up, but he is filling up with tumors and someday I’m gonna, he’s just not gonna be awake from his nap and I’m gonna be heartbroken. Gigi is slowing down too.

When we first moved to the beach three years ago, we’d go for five mile walks every morning and then maybe again in the afternoon, we’d put a couple miles in and about a year ago, Slinky just stopped going for the beach. He just goes outside and takes care of his business now and that’s about it. Now Gigi’s slowing down and why am I throwing that here in the podcast? Because life comes at you fast and you gotta make the most of it and enjoy those moments that are good when you can because sometimes the more savory, less sweet moments come up and that’s kind of what I’m going through with my pups now and it kind of breaks my heart knowing that at some point in the probably not too long future for Slinky and the mid-range future for Gigi, it’s gonna be the end for them.

So that’s kind of a depressing way to start the podcast but if you got thoughts about little pets, let me know. On with our one topic for this week. I said I’d come back, episode 23, I think it was, I talked about staff fitness standards and the lack of them and maybe the need for them because it is important to have staff who can keep up with the kids if you want kids to be physically active.

And so I said in that episode, I don’t wanna rehash that whole episode but I said I’d come back with some sample fitness standards and that’s what we’re gonna get into this episode. I know I wanna preface this, I talked about this in episode 23 as well. We need to be able to make accommodations in fitness standards because people are differently abled and we want to have those people working in the early learning profession because I think it’s good for them and good for the children and good for the culture and civilization as a whole.

On the other hand, we need to have enough people on staff who can meet the physical standards, some basic physical standards for health and safety reasons. And so while I throw these sample standards out there, I’m not saying every single person on the staff needs to be able to meet these, but absolutely there need to be enough staff people in the ratio at any time, on the premises at any time, that can handle the physical demands of the job. And beyond that, we make accommodations for people.

Let’s take a look at these though. So first, I think strength is, one of those standards we need to have. You need to have a certain level of strength before you can successfully work in this profession.

There’s a lot of lifting, a lot of toting to do, not only of kids, but of equipment. And so I think a reasonable strength standard for the early learning profession is the ability to repeatedly lift and carry up to 40 pounds. That’s getting a almost preschooler toddler up on the changing table when you need to.

That’s moving tires that are out of the playground as loose parts around. That’s hefting and hauling the water play table around the playground, those kinds of things. Filling up, carrying a cooler up to the playground for a picnic lunch, all those kinds of things.

And so the ability to repeatedly lift and carry up to 40 pounds, I think is a very reasonable strength standard for caregivers. And again, for health and safety terms, if we do need to do a building evacuation, there needs to be somebody who, there needs to be enough people on staff who can physically get all of those kids out of that building in a reasonable amount of time. Next up is mobility and flexibility.

The ability to bend and twist and turn and get up off the ground and all those kind of things. So I think the standard should be that we should have staff on call, on duty all the time in the ratios at all time that have the ability to bend, kneel, crouch, sit on the floor, and then get up again multiple times each day. And I know for a fact there are programs who struggle with this one.

And if you get one or two people on staff who can’t meet the standard for whatever reason, they had a hip replacement, whatever, that’s understandable. Accommodations can be made. And we need to have people who can do these things.

Because if we’re gonna interact with kids, we need to be able to put ourselves in the positions kids are in. And that means if we’re working with infants and toddlers, we need to be able to get down on their level. If we’re doing circle time with kids, we need to be able to get down on the floor with them, those kind of things.

And so again, not an unreasonable standard, I don’t think. Next up is endurance. And so endurance, I think a reasonable standard is the ability to stand, walk, and run for extended periods each day.

Because if we’re going to create an active, engaging, motion-based environment for kids, and that’s what we should be doing if we’re creating environments that offer big blocks of uninterrupted time for self-directed play and exploration, staff need to be able to do these things. We need to be able to be up, we need to be able to be moving. And we need to have the endurance to do that.

And again, there are programs that struggle with this level of staff fitness. And another thing is these are good models for the kids as well. Another one is sensory abilities.

I think this is the last one. I don’t think I’ve got many of these here. We need to have vision, oh, there’s one more.

We need to have vision and hearing adequate for monitoring or responding to children. We need to be able to see and hear. That means, I mean, I don’t know what that means.

But this is, again, pretty, it’s a pretty low bar that we should be able to reach. And then finally, fine motor skills. Staff should have the ability to effectively manipulate small objects because that’s part of the job as well.

It’s something they have to do on a regular basis. And those are all very simple things. Now, I don’t know how we go about testing for these things.

I myself personally think a staff Olympics every three to six months would be delightful where staff get out there and partake in events that replicate the activities they engage in during play and test their abilities in these areas where they get a, I don’t know, you gotta carry a 40-pound toddler mannequin across the playground in relay races. And you’ve gotta get up, sit down and get up off the floor 10 times in two minutes or whatever it is and staff compete. And then I think margaritas afterwards for everybody, I think is the standard there because you gotta celebrate your team building.

I don’t know. It’s just something I’ve been thinking about. I thought I’d throw it out there in an episode.

Maybe you like it, maybe you don’t. Maybe you have other standards of your own. I would like to hear about those and that’s something I’ll go into when we wrap up.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this kind of stuff. This is just kind of, you know, a lot of times this podcast is just stuff that has been in my head and then I spit it out here hoping somebody wants to discuss it with me. So if those physical standards or lack of them in your coworkers or your challenges and meeting them yourself or whatever it is around this topic, I’d like to hear about it.

Another thing about this as well is generally people who are more physically fit and able are going to be less burnt out. Now, not always, but a lot of times for people exercise whether it’s strength training or endurance training, conditioning, reduce stress and burnout. And so that’s another side benefit for these things.

So if you have thoughts, share them. I’d like to hear them. Amazon ID for this month.

And again, I’ve got an Amazon link for a portal on the show notes and all over the Playvolution HQ website. If you use it to enter Amazon, the world of Amazon, then a little bit of anything you buy goes to support the show. Somebody was kind enough to use that link to buy one of these jobbies.

Step two, pump and splash discovery, watery sensory activity pool thingy. And I think step two builds some very durable stuff. And you got the little pump there and the water wheels and the tippy thing.

And I think this is a good way for like toddlers and stuff to play with water. And again, the water doesn’t get too deep. So it’s not really a safety concern.

And I think that’s a good investment for a program. So if you’re looking at buying stuff like that for your program and you wanna support this podcast and the Playvolution HQ website, just shop through that Amazon portal. It’s much appreciated.

Another thing you can do is you can share it if you like it. And if you don’t like it, don’t share it. And I’ll just try to keep making stuff that you might like here on this podcast and on the Playvolution HQ site as well.

And finally, almost finally, next week, what’s coming up? Well, next week, we’re gonna talk about the more knowledgeable others. We’re gonna get some Vygotsky up in here in this podcast. So that should be delightful fun.

Dad joke of the week. Need a good dad joke after making myself sad about my little dogs. Why did the chicken offer to play drums in the farmyard jazz band? Why did the chicken offer to play drums in the farmyard jazz band? She already had the best set of drumsticks.

Okay, there. Um, that’s, that’s, this has been two bad dad jokes in a row. Last week’s wasn’t very good either.

This has been the Playvolution HQ podcast. Thanks for listening. Back soon.

Hey, Jeeves, what would you play? What would you play in the Playvolution HQ jazz band?

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