Product Description

Too much TV? Too many hours spent on video games? Tired of hearing "I'm bored"? The answer is here. The Unplugged Play Book celebrates the pleasures and virtues of old-fashioned play while addressing the growing concerns of parents who worry about the time their children spend in front of a screen.

Written by Bobbi Conner, the creator and host of The Parent's Journal, the long-running, award-winning public radio show, The Unplugged Play Book is the family bible of hands-on fun, a parent-friendly encyclopedia of over 700 games and variations, with not a screen, plug, chip, disk, or battery in sight. Here are games to play alone and games to play with siblings and friends. Games to play indoors and games for outside. Toddler games, ten-year-olds' games, and games for the whole family. There are craft projects, puppet ideas, music activities, card games, guessing games, plus loads of ideas for keeping little kids busy nearby. There's stuff to do with cardboard boxes, with balloons, with muffin tins, with paper grocery sacks. There's how to draw a sidewalk masterpiece in chalk, design a castle, organize a treasure hunt, make silly hats from plastic tubs, build forts and ramps for toy cars and trucks. And dozens of special-occasion games, including birthday party ideas, themes, and activities. Woven throughout are not only the reasons to play unplugged—why it's essential for whole development, how it builds intelligence, encourages problem-solving and self-control, boosts creativity and inner strength of character—but also invaluable help for parents, from lists of best toys (and gadgets turned into toys) to dealing with issues of sharing, shyness, party meltdowns, safety, and much more.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #999186 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 516 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Conner, author (Everyday Opportunities for Extraordinary Parenting) and host of the popular public radio program The Parent's Journal, offers more than 700 ideas for play without plugs, batteries or beeps in this imaginative collection. Conner points out that electronic play has a number of drawbacks—contributing to the rise in childhood obesity and isolation, and limiting creativity—while unplugged play builds strong bodies, helps kids forge friendships and expands the mind. In an effort to get back to the basics of play, Conner began collecting and inventing hundreds of games, then tested them on groups of children ages one to 10. The author divides the book into three sections—for toddlers, preschoolers and the six-to-10 set—with subsections on solo play, parent and child, playing with others and birthday parties. She covers a wide range of activities, from noodle necklaces to toddler basketball with a laundry basket, including indoor and outdoor play for rain or shine, with clear instructions as well as discussions of safety issues. Child development experts such as Fred Rogers and Benjamin Spock have emphasized the significance of play; Conner has taken her sources at their word and produced a fun-filled compendium likely to become a dog-eared resource for parents seeking whimsical yet practical ways to unplug the electronics and promote the physical, cognitive and emotional benefits of plain, old-fashioned play. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
" A terrific precription for much of what ails children and parents today."
-RICHARD LOUV, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder

From the Back Cover
From the joy of smearing glue on paper to the screaming delight of a bubble-blowing relay, kids love to play. In fact, it's every kid's built-in tool for experiencing the world at large. A parent-friendly encyclopedia, UNPLUGGED PLAY ("A wonderful guide," says Daniel Goleman) offers hundreds and hundredsof battery-free, screen-free, chrip-and-beep-free games and fun variations that stretch the imagination, spark creativity, building strong bodies, and forge deep friendships...and keep kids busy at the table while mom or dad makes dinner.

Customer Reviews

We live in a TV World, what happened to old fashion play?
My title says it all. That is exactly why I wanted this book. The only reason it got a 4 star was because it didn't have anything special for infants or small babies. Basically a lot of the games I have to wait until my baby is older. On top of it, I was able to actually show that there was more to TV for children, especially educationally.

good clean fun
This book reminds us of the kind of fun we had when we were kids. I am middle aged and my kids are grown but have used the ideas in the book for friends' children that have come to spend the night with us. It is a great shower or baby gift as well.

Great games for quick and easy play!
I purchased this book about six months ago and have used it repeatdly. It is something I can grab when my children are getting restless and bored and I am not going to let them watch TV for another minute. The games are easy to understand, only require items that I usually have around the house and are just plain fun. Many are games I played when I was young but had forgetten about. I especially like the layout of the book, it makes it easy for you to find activities for various ages.Unplugged Play: No Batteries. No Plugs. Pure Fun.