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Books on Cooperative Play The Spirit of Play |
 
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Best New Games |
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..is a great resource for anyone involved with
groups - at any level and in any setting. It is a rich mine of entertaining
activity ideas for elementary classrooms, after school programs, physical
education programs for all ages, college orientations, religious youth groups,
scout troops, retirement home social activities, day care centers for both
kids and older people, and park district programs. It can provide material
for people planning parties, ice breakers for a conference or meeting, or
activities for any group that includes people who are very different from
one another in age, ability level, ethnicity, gender or culture.
Use Best New Games to create an opportunity for
people of all ages and abilities to have fun together while being physically
and mentally active. The games are extremely well illustrated with over
180 photos. 77 games and 7 trust activities. 215+ pages. Click here to view a sample from the book.To order within the United States:
To order within Europe: Retail price in UK: £12.99
To order outside the United States and Europe: Click here to email us your order. Remember to include the item name and quantity. Also include the address you would like us to ship the item(s) to, and the email address where New Games can send you an invoice. The invoice will allow you to pay securely using Paypal. For a list of international shipping rates, click here."BEST NEW GAMES" by Dale N. Le Fevre is a terrific
book! The pictures in the book show all ages playing this game. Le Fevre
truly believes in the magic created when people of all ages get together
to play. The game is never as important as the joy of participants gather
from playing together. In these games no one is excluded to make the game
better. In fact, it seems, the more the merrier.
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Reviewed in NHAHPERD NEWS, Fall 2002: BEST NEW GAMES "BEST NEW GAMES" by Dale N. Le Fevre is a terrific book! It is full of games played for fun and team building. Le Fevre first talks about the history of New Games and then leads the reader through a beginning chapter which helps acquaint and/or reacquaint the reader with the 'new game' concepts. He then explains how to 'go with the flow' from grasping teachable moments, allowing whatever is happening to happen with a purpose, to helping groups create their own games. A unique and most helpful tool in this book is Chapter 2, entitled, "Which New Games To Do When". Included in this chapter is a grid of all the games in the book. The headings give the reader quick access to whatever game one may have been looking for or to the game a reader looking for but hadn't realized it. The headings of the grid are, name of game, page number, activity level, when to play, number of players, special space and equipment needed, appropriate social purposes, and skills needed/developed. Many of these games are old friends, but the presentation add some new twists. For example, the game of "Knights, Mounts, and Cavaliers" (90-91) is a little like "Fish Gobbler" or "Shipwreck", but the game takes place in medieval times. So, when the music stops, players immediately find a partner and respond to the direction given by the teacher. Knights - one person on one knee while the partner, who is standing and facing the kneeling person extends a hand (sword) to the knight's shoulder. The "Cavaliers" - one partner gets on one knee, while the other partner sits on the other knee. And, the "Mounts", call for one partner to get on all fours while the other assumes a rider position on the first's back. The hitch in this game is that the last pair to do the command become floaters, and remain so in the following rounds. "Floaters attempt to obstruct partners from getting to each other without touching. A round of the game ends when there is only one pair of partners left." We played the game with our fifth graders without adding the "obstruction" rule...they just tried not to be the last one to get in position. And what fun they had. The pictures in the book show all ages playing this game. Le Fevre truly believes in the magic created when people of all ages get together to play. The game is never as important as the joy of participants gather from playing together. In these games no one is excluded to make the game better. In fact, it seems, the more the merrier. These kind of games truly leave "No child behind." -Candace Smith back to top of page ** Reviewed in School Age Notes, February 12, 2003: BEST NEW GAMES "Based on over 25 year of experience, this is a comprehensive collection of cooperative, interactive games for all ages and abilities. Included 77 games and 7 trust activities, game-leading tips, a 'game finder' resource, safety instructions and photographs of each game. Games are arranged by low, moderate and high activity level. 217 pages." ** Reviewed in MAHPERD Journal, February 12, 2003: BEST NEW GAMES This book is meant for any audience teaching games to children, such as physical educators, recreation specialists, camp leaders and the like. Its purpose is to expand upon recent games books and for the author to share the games he has learned and field-tested over the years with wider audiences. In the last 25 years, Dale Le Fevre has developed and taught games across the country and including Northern Ireland, the Middle East, Croatia, and Serbia. Although the book is in no way revolutionary, it does add some interesting and challenging new games to the fields of physical education and recreation. Strengths Best New Games has a number of significant strengths. First, it provides more than a list of games to play. Rather, it includes sections on the history of games, how to lead, adapt and create new games and a game-finder for selecting the right game for any occasion. Second, the book organizes and presents games according to their cardio-vascular intensity. This means users can match different intensity games to the needs of young children, older adults, populations with health problems or highly active adolescents. Finally, the book offers more than a simple description of how to play each game. Instead, the author provides sections on player numbers, when to play the game, safety instructions, age level, equipment, space needs, and developmental skills needed to participate for each game. Weaknesses The primary weakness of the book, similar to problems with most adventure games texts, is that the educational content has not been identified and pedagogical strategies were not offered. Physical educators know that adventure games possess both physical skill and social/affective content. In fact, the single greatest benefit of adventure games, as many counselors, corporate managers and team-building specialists will attest, is the ability to directly address and teach social and affective topics such as communication, responsibility, trust, empathy, caring and cohesiveness. As the author points out, many of his games have been used to bridge gaps between contesting groups like Arabs and Israelis and Northern Ireland Catholics and Protestants. The limitation of this book then is that it does not identify each game’s social affective or even physical content. It does not offer pedagogical strategies for teaching that content within each game. As an example, all Project Adventure leaders, the group most known for popularizing adventure, know that an equally important component of games, in addition to physically playing them, is having some sort of conversation of debriefing afterward with the participants. This conversation/debriefing allows participants to share their perceptions of playing, voice their feelings and learn social and emotional lessons from one another. Unfortunately, this book offers only descriptions of games and does not go to the next level of offering useful pedagogical examples for educators. Conclusion Having taught adventure-type games for some time, I value this book for the new and interesting games but long for more in-depth and specific teaching tips. For novice physical educators, this book would be a useful acquisition. - Nate McCaughtry, Wayne State University back to top of page |
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