Fun easy games for parents and teachers to play with kids of all ages

Play is increasingly recognized by neuroscientists and educators as a vital component in brain development, academic success and learning social skills. In this inspiring and useful resource, Barbara Sher provides step-by-step directions for how to use children's natural interests at different stages of their development to help them develop a wealth of sensory motor and social skills. All the games have also been designed to provide plenty of joyful opportunities for encouraging inclusion.Offers strategies for helping all kids, but especially those with special needs, to develop social, motor and sensory skillsFilled with simple games using common materials that can be used by teachers, parents, and caregivers with both individual kids and groupsProvides explanations and examples of how the games can aid in a child's development

This resource offers parents and teachers a fun and easy way to include all children in activities that will engage all of their senses and promote important skills.

Discussions of physical activity in schools often focus on health-related outcomes, but there is also evidence for its integral role in academic achievement, cognition, and psychological adjustment. Written by a scientist-practitioner, Physical Activity and Student Learning explores the effects of physical activity within the broader context of educational psychology research and theory and brings the topic to a wider audience. With chapters on positive school behavior, executive function, and interventions, this concise volume is designed for any educational psychology or general education course that includes physical activity in the curriculum. This book establishes physical activity as an important part of all learning-not just physical education and recess-and will be indispensable for student researchers and both pre- and in-service teachers alike.

"The Handbook of College Athletics and Recreation Administration" provides a practical and informative resource for athletics administration, recreation, and fitness practitioners of all levels in both 2 and 4-year institutions, public and private. It is also a resource for graduate students and faculty in sports management programs with an emphasis in collegiate athletics. The book addresses the broad functional areas of collegiate athletic enterprises including intercollegiate athletics, health and fitness, and recreation.

Forest School's innovative outdoor approach offers specific benefits to learners with autism, including increased social skills, raised self-esteem and improved sensory function. This guide raises autism awareness amongst practitioners by providing practical and easy-to-follow advice for adapting Forest School activities for those with autism. For those coming from a mainstream Forest School background, the author offers an introduction to autism and shows what Forest School can offer people with autism - both children and adults - with first-person accounts that highlight its success with this group. The guide gives advice on the social and sensory benefits, offers practical advice on safety and on how to set up a Forest School and finally presents specific activities to be incorporated into practitioners' routines.

Course Correction engages in deliberation about what the twenty-first-century university needs to do in order to re-find its focus as a protected place for unfettered commitment to knowledge, not just as a space for creating employment or economic prosperity. The university's business, Paul W. Gooch writes, is to generate and critique knowledge claims, and to transmit and certify the acquisition of knowledge. In order to achieve this, a university must have a reputation for integrity and trustworthiness, and this, in turn, requires a diligent and respectful level of autonomy from state, religion, and other powerful influences. It also requires embracing the challenges of academic freedom and the effective governance of an academic community. Course Correction raises three important questions about the twenty-first-century university. In discussing the dominant attention to student experience, the book asks, "Is it now all about students?" Secondly, in questioning "What knowledge should undergraduates gain?" it provides a critique of undergraduate experience, advocating a Socratic approach to education as interrogative conversation. Finally, by asking "What and where are well-placed universities?" the book makes the case against placeless education offered in the digital world, in favour of education that takes account of its place in time and space.

""For all members of the Leave No Child Inside movement who are engaged with early childhoodas educators, child care providers, nature center staff, parents, landscape designers, or pediatriciansthis book is an essential resource.,""
Louise Chawla, Children and Nature Network, USA. .

What do children learn through playing outdoors?. What makes an effective and challenging play space?. What is a safe environment and can children be too safe?. How can adults best support challenging play outdoors? . . . Young children seek adventure and challenge in their play outdoors. They look for places they can explore and spaces they can transform. However, provision for exciting and challenging play outdoors is often restricted because of an over-emphasis on safety, and also because the value of play outdoors is not well understood.

. . This book offers a clear rationale for why outdoor play is essential in young childrens lives and learning. It asks fundamental questions about what sort of environments we want for young children, as well as examining controversial issues of risk and safety.

. . The author identifies key principles underpinning the design of challenging outdoor play environments and examines how children use and transform space to create their own imaginary worlds. The essential role of the adult in supporting and extending childrens free play is examined and implications for practice identified.

. . This book makes an important contribution to current debates on risk, safety and challenge in outdoor environments for young children. It brings together research from a range of different disciplines, as well as illustrative examples of childrens play and talkoutdoors.

. . "Playing Outdoors" is inspiring reading for early childhood practitioners, students, play workers, parents, policy makers and all those seeking to develop challenging outdoor play areas..

Increasingly, educational researchers and policy-makers are finding that extracurricular programs make a major difference in the lives of disadvantaged youth, helping to reduce the infamous academic attainment gap between white students and their black and Latino peers. Yet studies of these programs typically focus on how they improve the average academic performance of their participants, paying little attention to individual variation. Why Afterschool Matters takes a different approach, closely following ten Mexican American students who attended the same extracurricular program in California, then chronicling its long-term effects on their lives, from eighth grade to early adulthood. Discovering that participation in the program was life-changing for some students, yet had only a minimal impact on others, sociologist Ingrid A. Nelson investigates the factors behind these very different outcomes. Her research reveals that while afterschool initiatives are important, they are only one component in a complex network of school, family, community, and peer interactions that influence the educational achievement of disadvantaged students. Through its detailed case studies of individual students, this book brings to life the challenges marginalized youth en route to college face when navigating the intersections of various home, school, and community spheres. Why Afterschool Matters may focus on a single program, but its findings have major implications for education policy nationwide.

Increasingly, educational researchers and policy-makers are finding that extracurricular programs make a major difference in the lives of disadvantaged youth, helping to reduce the infamous academic attainment gap between white students and their black and Latino peers. Yet studies of these programs typically focus on how they improve the average academic performance of their participants, paying little attention to individual variation. Why Afterschool Matters takes a different approach, closely following ten Mexican American students who attended the same extracurricular program in California, then chronicling its long-term effects on their lives, from eighth grade to early adulthood. Discovering that participation in the program was life-changing for some students, yet had only a minimal impact on others, sociologist Ingrid A. Nelson investigates the factors behind these very different outcomes. Her research reveals that while afterschool initiatives are important, they are only one component in a complex network of school, family, community, and peer interactions that influence the educational achievement of disadvantaged students. Through its detailed case studies of individual students, this book brings to life the challenges marginalized youth en route to college face when navigating the intersections of various home, school, and community spheres. Why Afterschool Matters may focus on a single program, but its findings have major implications for education policy nationwide.

The date, the gown, the tux, the theme, the corsage. For many teenagers the prom is the highlight of their high school career, seen as the rite of passage from adolescence to adulthood.
In Prom Night, Amy Best interview countless teens about their prom experiences, and looks at popular media to understand today's teens. She finds that with the rising purchasing power of youth culture, the prom is now an industry unto itself with its own magazines, films, clothing, accessories and services.

Outdoor learning and play experiences are an essential part of young children's development. The importance of offering children first-hand experience of the natural world becomes more urgent as research evidence demonstrates the benefits of becoming physically and emotionally involved with the natural world. Outdoor Learning through the Seasons shows how we can encourage young children to engage with nature on a daily basis throughout the year. Using the four seasons as a framework, it supports adults to develop their own awareness of the world around them and feel confident about taking children outside every day. There are suggestions for caring for gardens and wildlife through the year, and ideas to brighten grey winter days, enjoy the summer sunshine or explore in the snow. Now featuring full-colour photographs throughout, this new edition has been updated to include references to recent research, new material on Forest Schools, discussion questions for practitioners and in-depth case studies of learning in action. Features include: Ideas for all seasons, weather conditions and working with the four elements: earth, air, water and fire Guidance on fulfilling the learning requirements of EYFS and the Characteristics of Effective Learning Advice on working with parents and the role of adults Practical tips and suggestions of how to make the most of a small space or how to re-plan an existing space Useful reference lists of further resources including stories, poems and websites This practical book is essential reading for all those looking to provide rich and stimulating outdoor learning and play provision for children in early years settings on a daily basis and for parents and carers wishing to get the most of time outdoors with their children.

From childhood to adolescence, young people are enrolled in various public or private forms of educational arrangements outside regular school lessons. These activities can be summarized by the term extended education. The volume provides an overview of extended education in multiple nations around the world. Different models, policies, methods, and research findings are discussed from an international point of view. Children participate in school- or community-based programs, forms of private tutoring or after-school activities such as art courses or academic clubs, or they attend extracurricular activities at all-day schools or leisure time centres. In as far as these activities and programmes focus on the social, emotional and academic development of children and young people and are pedagogically structured to make it easier for the participants to learn specific contents they can be summarized by the term extended education. The volume aims at three main aspects: Firstly, it explores major characteristics of extended education as an emerging research field, defines what this research field is (and is not), and points to areas/nations/regions where we know very little about extended education. Secondly, the volume provides a potential framework for future cross-national research (collaborative and comparative research) on extended education we are lacking so far. And thirdly, the volume sheds light on the national and international features of extended education and suggests future developments in this field of education. The volume focuses on childhood and adolescence (through secondary education, including college students), though some lifelong implications are discussed as well. It encompasses 18 articles which cover extended education in 12 different countries around the globe.

Learning outside the classroom has been high on the political agenda for several years now, but recent Ofsted reports indicate that this can be confined to termly or yearly trips, as an 'extra'. This book provides a convincing and readable promotion of regular outdoor learning. It draws on relevant research to reinforce that working in 'real' environments benefits children's all-round development - cognitively, emotionally, physically and spiritually. This is illustrated through a wide range of engaging activities, from how to make a scarecrow, to interpreting a painting in a gallery, from getting the best from a library visit, to how best to attack a medieval castle. This practical guide for busy teachers will help them to link what they do in and out of the class. It's a must for every staffroom bookshelf.

Although the benefits of learning outside are well documented and more and more teachers are heading out (post-pandemic) to teach their classes, outdoor activities often decline as children progress through their education. There are many reasons for this: lack of time in the curriculum, lack of training, lack of teacher confidence, or simply lack of inspiration. Educating Outside contains a bank of outdoor learning ideas that can be used to enhance and enrich your classes' learning experiences across the curriculum; including in science, history, geography, art and design, English and maths. Each lesson idea is linked to a specific programme of study and outlines required resources, links to soft skills, cross-curricular opportunities, and a broad lesson plan with suggested outcomes and photos. All the ideas take place within the school grounds themselves, which means plenty of opportunities to try out new activities without lengthy risk assessments, extra time and additional expense.

Discussions of physical activity in schools often focus on health-related outcomes, but there is also evidence for its integral role in academic achievement, cognition, and psychological adjustment. Written by a scientist-practitioner, Physical Activity and Student Learning explores the effects of physical activity within the broader context of educational psychology research and theory and brings the topic to a wider audience. With chapters on positive school behavior, executive function, and interventions, this concise volume is designed for any educational psychology or general education course that includes physical activity in the curriculum. This book establishes physical activity as an important part of all learning-not just physical education and recess-and will be indispensable for student researchers and both pre- and in-service teachers alike.

Learning to argue and persuade in a highly competitive environment is only one aspect of life on a high-school debate team. Teenage debaters also participate in a distinct cultural world--complete with its own jargon and status system--in which they must negotiate complicated relationships with teammates, competitors, coaches, and parents as well as classmates outside the debating circuit. In "Gifted Tongues," Gary Alan Fine offers a rich description of this world as a testing ground for both intellectual and emotional development, while seeking to understand adolescents as social actors. Considering the benefits and drawbacks of the debating experience, he also recommends ways of reshaping programs so that more high schools can use them to boost academic performance and foster specific skills in citizenship.

Fine analyzes the training of debaters in rapid-fire speech, rules of logical argumentation, and the strategic use of evidence, and how this training instills the core values of such American institutions as law and politics. Debates, however, sometimes veer quickly from fine displays of logic to acts of immaturity--a reflection of the tensions experienced by young people learning to think as adults. Fine contributes to our understanding of teenage years by encouraging us not to view them as a distinct stage of development but rather a time in which young people draw from a toolkit of both childlike and adult behaviors. A well-designed debate program, he concludes, nurtures the intellect while providing a setting in which teens learn to make better behavioral choices, ones that will shape relationships in their personal, professional, and civic lives.

If you've ever taken a child (or sat near one) on public transport - you know how important this book is. Five Minute Mum: On the Go is the ultimate companion to any journey, staycation or holiday: 80 games to keep little ones happily - and quietly! - occupied when you're out and about. Also featuring games suitable for big groups on holidays or at parties, this is endless fun for kids, and sanity saving for their grown ups!

Originally published in 1988, The Holistic Curriculum addresses the problem of fragmentation in education through a connected curriculum of integrative approaches to teaching and learning. John P. Miller, author of more than seventeen books on holistic education, discusses the theoretical foundations of the holistic curriculum and particularly its philosophical, psychological, and social connections. Tracing the history of holistic education from its beginnings, this revised and expanded third edition features insights into Indigenous approaches to education while also expanding upon the six curriculum connections: subject, community, thinking, earth, body-mind, and soul. This edition also includes an introduction by leading Indigenous educator Greg Cajete as well as a dialogue between the author and Four Arrows, author of Teaching Truly, about the relationship between holistic education and Indigenous education.

* Step-by-step guide from conception to evaluation * Practical, short, and easy reference for teachers, leaders, or community members who may be designing a before/after school program * Ideal for students of any ability level, from gifted to special needs

Ideal for early years to KS1 children who are starting or are already at Reception and KS1 primary school. Phonics! Number sentences! Reading schemes! School uniforms! Daisy Upton has two children, and used to be a teaching assistant, so is more than familiar with the reality of being a parent. This book is packed full of games and activities to help children feel confident and excited about learning. They -and you! - will get help with letters, numbers and everything in between. Daisy's games only take five minutes to set up and five minutes to tidy up you can support them at home without wanting to bang your head on the kitchen table. 'I love Five Minute Mum - she's come up with games that are fun and educational' The Unmumsy Mum Also available: Five Minute Mum: Give Me Five Five Minute Mum: On the Go

The ultimate antidote to screen time - outdoor play with your kids! Whether you are a parent, a teacher, a Forest School leader or anyone else looking after children, this invaluable guide to nature-based play is full of ideas to get kids outdoors, learning about and connecting with nature, developing new skills and having fun. These new Forest School crafts, games and survival activities are all themed around the elements of earth, air, fire and water, with an underlying message of sustainability and wonder at the amazing web of life. For earth, make a mud slide, try Bogolan mud painting on cloth, or hurl mud missiles at a moving target. For air, make a bullroarer or a whistle, build a kite and fly it, or predict the weather by reading the clouds. For fire, dig a Dakota fire pit, make a bug-repellent torch or learn how to navigate using a shadow stick. For water, mix natural dyes, build and test a rainproof den, or drink foraged birch twig tea from a crafted log cup. There are also four magical stories to tell the children - one for each of the elements -guaranteed to spark their imagination.

Daisy Upton has two little kids. She loves them - but they drive her mad.

So, to try and keep her sanity she started to come up with quick, easy games using stuff from around the house. And @FiveMinuteMum was born.

In her first book, she has collected 150+ games that take 5 minutes to set up & 5 minutes to tidy up.

From pasta posting to alphabet knock down, it's a recipe book for guilt free parenting!

And as Daisy was a teaching assistant, your little ones will be learning while they play! What could be better?

GIVE ME FIVE is the perfect companion for anyone who wants five minutes peace.

"I love Five Minute Mum. She's managed to come up with a huge array of activities for kids that are fun and educational yet don't require an Art degree or Diploma in Patience to execute."Sarah Turner, aka Unmumsy Mum

Measure, Use, Improve! Data Use in Out-of-School Time shares the experience and wisdom from a broad cross-section of out-of-school time professionals, ranging from internal evaluators, to funders, to researchers, to policy advocates. Key themes of the volume include building support for learning and evaluation within out-of-school time programs, creating and sustaining continuous quality improvement efforts, authentically engaging young people and caregivers in evaluation, and securing funder support for learning and evaluation. This volume will be particularly useful to leadership-level staff in out-of-school time organizations that are thinking about deepening their own learning and evaluation systems, yet aren't sure where to start. Authors share conceptual frameworks that have helped inform their thinking, walk through practical examples of how they use data in out-of-school time, and offer advice to colleagues.

A foundational tenet of the Out-of-School Time (OST) field is that all youth deserve impactful and engaging learning experiences. That requires that organizations, programs, and OST professionals remain responsive to the emerging needs of their diverse youth populations and the communities in which they live. This book illustrates the tensions that arise when organizations and OST professionals try to engage all youth, especially the traditionally underserved populations - when infrastructure, funding, and mindsets have not kept pace with the evolving needs of youth and their communities. The issues raised in this book - funding, outreach, engagement of immigrant families - have yet to be fully explored with an equity lens. Within these broad topics, this book brings to the surface the equity and access challenges as well as posit solutions and strategies. Each chapter is written from an insider's perspective, by practitioners themselves, who articulate some of the key and relevant issues in the field. Each chapter ends with a Research-Practice Connection section written by the editors, which discusses the topic from a research lens and generates a set of questions that can be used by researchers in future studies to explore the topic in a more in-depth, expansive manner.

By taking students out of their comfort zone, field-based courses--which are increasingly popular in secondary and postsecondary education--have the potential to be deep, transformative learning experiences. But what happens when the field in question is a site of active or recent conflict? In Conflict Zone, Comfort Zone, editors Agnieszka Paczynska and Susan F. Hirsch highlight new approaches to field-based learning in conflict zones worldwide. As the contributors demonstrate, instructors must leave the comfort zone of traditional pedagogy to meet the challenges of field-based education. Drawing on case studies in the United States and abroad, the contributors address the ethical considerations of learning in conflict zones, evaluate the effectiveness of various approaches to teaching these courses, and provide guidelines for effecting change. They also explore how the challenges of field-based classes are magnified in conflict and postconflict settings, and outline the dilemmas faced by those seeking to resolve those challenges. Finally, filling a crucial gap in existing literature, the contributors identify best practices that will assist aspiring instructors in developing successful field-based courses in conflict zones. Contributors: Daniel R. Brunstetter, Alison Castel, Gina M. Cerasani, Alexander Cromwell, Maryam Z. Deloffre, Sandi DiMola, Leslie Dwyer, Eric Hartman, Pushpa Iyer, Allyson M. Lowe, Patricia A. Maulden, rj nickels, Anthony C. Ogden, Jennifer M. Ramos, Lisa E. Shaw, Daniel Wehrenfennig