Tip of the Week: Bathroom Breaks

     One frequent issue that arises in Crossroads Kids Club's programs is that students need to go to the bathroom, and it seems like they always remember that the need to go at the worst possible times—like during a transition or right when large group is starting. Here are a few tips to help manage this issue:

• Make it your policy that students should use the bathroom before arriving at club.
• Have a designated time to go to the bathroom during club and take the whole group at one time.
• Have each small group take a turn going to the bathroom during small group time.

     In short, if you can designate the appropriate times for kids to use the bathroom (e.g., before club and at a designated bathroom break time), it will cut down dramatically on the times that they interrupt the flow of the club schedule by asking to use the bathroom.
     When you have a regular time scheduled and a student asks to use the bathroom at a different time, you can reply with something like, "We are going in ten minutes. Can you wait ten minutes or is it an emergency?" Many times, students will say that they can wait. This reinforces the idea of the set times to go and discourages other students from asking. If a student seems to regularly have "emergencies" and says that they can't wait then I would recommend talking with the parent(s) to see if there is a medical reason for this as this is entirely possible. However, in the absence of a medical condition, it could be a ploy for attention, or the child could be asking to go to the bathroom simply because they are not engaged with the club activities (i.e., out of boredom). In this latter case, you have a deeper issue than managing bathroom breaks. You need to ratchet up the excitement of what you are doing in general.