Blog | Cooperative Games

Four Friends: A Story About Cooperation

April 9, 2017 by Suzanne Lyons

I thank LovePeaceHarmony.org for this charming story about cooperation. Share it with the children in your life if you think it will help them understand the meaning of cooperation.

Tucked away into the Himalayas the wondrous kingdom of Bhutan has a some beautiful stories. This story is about four friends, an elephant, a monkey, a peacock and a rabbit. This is a well known story all over Bhutan. In the beginning, the four friends were not friends. They argued about who had the right to a fruit tree, whose delicious fruit was enjoyed by all of them. This argument stopped when a man overruled them and claimed ownership of the fruit tree. The four friends wondered what to do to get the fruit they all loved. They wanted to help each other so they became friends.

“ I will plant a seed in the ground,” the peacock said.

“I will water it,” the rabbit said.

“I will fertilise it,” said the monkey.

“I will protect it,” said the elephant.

The seed grew and grew until it became a tree. On the tree came the lovely fruit. Now the four friends had a problem. They could see the fruits but they could not reach them. So they made a tower by climbing on each other’s backs; first the elephant, then the monkey, the rabbit, and finally the peacock. Through their friendship and cooperation the four were able to share their favorite fruit. In Bhutan’s national language, Dzongkha, the story is called Thuenpa puen shi, which means cooperation, relation, four.

For more about the PeaceLoveHarmony project visit https://lovepeaceharmony.org/

Rx: Cooperative Games to Ease Tension Amidst Political Divisions

March 27, 2017 by Suzanne Lyons

Here we are in late March 2017, in the midst of a cultural crisis characterized by seemingly intransigent social division. We distrust one another deeply as we drift farther and farther apart, huddling in opposing corners. Emotions flare as distrust hardens into animosity and even hatred.

cooperative games are a way to treat inter group aggression — **Social division stokes hostility and can lead to aggression**.

Whoa! We are headed past conflict and into aggression. In The Psychology of Group Aggression, Syracuse University Social Psychologist Alfred P. Goldstein explains that when people divide into groups, bias inevitably occurs, competition soon follows, and aggression is often not far behind.¹ That is, multiple studies have shown that just by virtue of dividing into groups, people inevitably develop biases. Those in one’s own group are seen to have exaggerated positive qualities (this distortion is called “in-group favoritism”) while those outside the group are attributed with exaggerated negative qualities (known to sociologists as “out-group discrimination.”) Given these distorted perceptions, competition ensues as each group vies to protect its own position against the inferior “Other”. Once there is competition, anger and fear are natural consequences since by definition, in competition someone must win and someone must lose. Fear and anger are emotions underpinning aggression. And so we see how easy it is to slide from division to competition to fear and anger and ultimately into aggression.

Cooperative games can help heal political divisions — **Cooperative games can restore civic relations in public settings where political divisions exist.**

Professor Goldstein studied many methods of reducing aggression among social groups but the one approach he found to be most successful was cooperative games!² You can read more about the details of Professor Goldstein’s work in my book The Cooperative Games Bullying Prevention Program but suffice it to say that the good doctor has given us a prescription that we can easily and happily implement. It makes sense to play cooperative games in the workplace, in school settings, and other public settings where differences in political viewpoints are present. Playing with one another where all participants have the same objective (a “super-ordinate goal”), heals divisions and thereby defuses hostility and the potential for aggression. Instead of experiencing one another as members of rival groups, in a cooperative game, everyone is on the same team. We enjoy one another again! Joy! And we see that we can accomplish our goals by working with one another rather than against each other.

There is much more to say about how cooperative games can help us psychologically and culturally in these troubled times. Stay tuned for more blog posts from me. Meanwhile I bet you’ll have your own ideas on the topic. Please feel free to express your comments on this blog or any of the social media sites supporting Cooperative Games.com. Here’s to you, your precious life, and your desire to find a path to peace and joy through cooperative play!

You can find a variety of cooperative games at CooperativeGames.com . Many are free. Some are available for purchase.

¹Arnold P. Goldstein, The Psychology of Group Aggression (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2002), 4-10

²Goldstein, 146-148

What Are Cooperative Games and Why Are They Good for Bullying Prevention?

March 20, 2017 by Suzanne Lyons

Cooperative Games are games based on cooperation not competition

What Is a Cooperative Game?

Have you heard about cooperative games? Cooperative games are based on cooperation rather than competition. There are cooperative games of all kinds for all ages and settings. They range from board games to circle games to PE games to electronic games and more. They are all based on the same principle: It’s as much fun—well maybe more fun—to play with each other than against each other!

In a cooperative game, players work together to win. The fun comes from the camaraderie and challenge of the game—not from being the “best” player left standing when everyone else is eliminated. In a cooperative game, no player is ever eliminated. What is eliminated is fear of failure and the incentive to beat others.

While competitive games emphasize individual achievement (being “better” than others), cooperative games emphasize the fun, enjoyment, and productivity that can be achieved by working together. A well-designed cooperative game assures that players will experience the heart-felt happiness that comes from being part of an inclusive community.

Pro-Social Skills and Cooperative Games

Cooperative games are structured so that players must use pro-social skills such as sharing, encouraging, listening, and participating in order to win.

cooperative game in a circle — Cooperative games come in many formats from circle games to board games to PE games

The major pro-social skill that is practiced in a cooperative game is, of course, cooperation. Because you need to work together to win in a cooperative game, players discover through their own sensory experience that cooperating makes us more productive. That is, cooperative play demonstrates in a very concrete way that “we’re better together”, that “many hands make like work” and that “many heads are better than one.”

Cooperative Games in Education

Do cooperative games have a role in education? It is easy to see that they do. As described above, cooperative games motivate players to want to cooperate and they also teach the cooperative skills needed to do it. The ability to cooperate has manifold applications in education.

Prep for Cooperative Learning Cooperative games prepare kids to take part in cooperative learning strategies and collaborative project-based learning because they give kids practice working and playing together.

Academic Subjects and Cooperative Games Cooperative games are of course playful and fun. Thus they tap the power of play in learning. The benefits of play in learning are well-documented. Play is especially crucial for learning in young children. Even Plato said over two thousand years ago: “Do not keep children to their studies by compulsion but by play.” More and more educational cooperative games are being developed for classroom learning, and the good ones combine the teaching power of both play and collaboration. So with educational cooperative games, students can learn language, math, science or other academic content at the same time that they practice cooperating. (See CooperativeGames.com for many free cooperative games, including cooperative games that teach academic subjects. Free classroom-ready games as well as games for purchase. Also you will find more cooperative games that teach academic subjects in The Cooperative Games Bullying Prevention Program by Suzanne Lyons.)

Social-and-Emotional Learning According to Maurice Elias, director of Rutgers University’s Social and Emotional Learning Lab, SEL is the process through which we learn to recognize and manage emotions, care about others, make good decisions, behave ethically an responsibly, and avoid negative behaviors. Teachers are looking for tools that teach social-and-emotional competence. Clearly, games that teach children how and why to get along together impart the social-and-emotional competencies Elias has identified.

Besides preparing students for cooperative learning, teaching academic subjects, and building social-and-emotional skills, cooperative games relate to other areas of education, from sustainability to special education. Indeed the applications are too many to enumerate in a single blog post! Check CooperativeGames.com for more discussion and resources related to all of the benefits and purposes of cooperative games in education https://cooperativegames.com/. However, we cannot end this introduction to cooperative games in education without giving at least a brief description of how they can prevent bullying. Bullying prevention is indeed the “killer app” for cooperative games.

Cooperative Games, School Climate, and Bullying

Bullying is a cruel torment and is all too common. It produces acute misery in the short term as well as aching wounds that can last a lifetime. Kids who are victims of bullying are five times more likely to be depressed compared to their peers. Kids who bully are also at high risk for serious negative consequences including social isolation, poor academic performance and later criminal behavior.

prevent bullying with cooperative games — Cooperative Games to Prevent Bullying

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has responded to the bullying crisis through its website StopBullying.gov, which is an extensive information portal for teachers and the public at large. The section Prevent Bullying offers a handful of guidelines to stop bullying before it starts. The guidelines for bullying prevention—as opposed to responding to bullying once it has occurred–relate to building a positive school climate.

What is a positive school climate? According to StopBullying.gov:

A positive school climate is a general atmosphere where students feel safe and a sense of belonging.

Cooperative games are inclusive by their very nature. Everyone belongs. No one is ever eliminated. If you need help when it is your turn, other players are there to support you. This feels psychologically safe. As well as safety, there is a sense of belonging too because players win or lose as a group. Working toward a common goal puts everyone on the same team.

Research on cooperative games and bullying — April Bay and Suzanne Lyons discussing April’s study on cooperative games and aggression in young children. Suzanne’s book is based on April’s research.

And there’s more! What can really make you feel unsafe and like you don’t belong? When others are mean and aggressive to you! Can cooperative games address even this problem—the problem of aggression? There is research that shows that playing cooperative games indeed reduces aggression. The consequences of this are profound and far-reaching and indeed pertain to all ages. The most specific research that shows cooperative games reduce aggression relates to young children however. A study by April Bay et. al. at the University of Nevada, Reno tested the effects of specific cooperative games on aggression in young children in 1994. Both during the games and afterward, children who played particular well-designed cooperative games exhibited more pro-social behavior (including sharing, showing affection, and helping one another) and less aggressive behavior (including hitting, kicking, and name-calling).

Teaching manual for cooperative games and bullying prevention — A pioneering approach to bullying prevention: Cooperative Games

Thus, good cooperative games are a powerful means with which a teacher, parent or other adult who works with children can nurture a positive school climate and thus prevent bullying!

This is a novel approach. For all its common sense appeal and the research backing it up, cooperative games have not been applied to the bullying problem as yet. It’s a simple method, inexpensive, and with many side benefits. If this approach appeals to you, know that when you give it a try you are one of the early adopters. You’re bringing light into the dark world of bullying with the positive power of cooperation, kindness, and joy.

Contact Suzanne Lyons M.A. M.A. for webinars and workshops on cooperative games in education. Buy The Cooperative Games Bullying Prevention Program at CooperativeGames.com, on Amazon, and ibooks.

Successful Cooperative Games Booth at a Local Holiday Fair!

December 27, 2016 by Suzanne Lyons

2016 is the first year that we hosted a booth selling cooperative board games at “Victorian Christmas”, our local holiday fair. This is Nevada City, California—a historic Gold Rush town that comes alive over the holidays. Locals and tourists love the cheerful mood and appreciate the story-book atmosphere. Even if you are not given to sentimentality throughout the year it is hard to resist the charm of this event, with its horse-drawn carriage, chestnuts roasting, carolers, crafters-a-plenty in their pop-up store-fronts and, in many years, a bit of snow to frost the streets in glistening white. Forget your cares, it’s the holidays!

So, how was a booth selling cooperative board games received? Truly our CooperativeGames.com booth was super popular! It exceeded expectations. I (Suzanne Lyons, founder CooperativeGames.com) have been selling cooperative games through CooperativeGames.com since 2009. During that time, I have seen a big increase in the degree to which people are familiar with cooperative games, or at least are receptive to the concept. Seven years ago, cooperative games were a very esoteric genre, sometimes regarded with skepticism, as in “What a weird idea.”

But at the holiday street fair this year, it was heartening to see how many people know what cooperative games are, and have played them, and are robust fans. There’s a lot of support for the whole idea of playing together not against each other. This year in 2016 many of us are looking for ways to bridge the gaps that divide us. It’s easy to see that cooperative games are a timely and effective method for getting there. And painless medicine to boot!

Besides running my own booth at our local holiday fair, in 2016 I helped The Lansing Peace Education Center with their own holiday fundraiser. They reported success and satisfaction, as described in their testimonial below. To like-minded organizations: This is an invitation. If you are interested in running a cooperative games table at your local fundraising event, please contact me, Suzanne Lyons, at CooperativeGames.com. The best way to reach me is by email at Suzanne@CooperativeGames.com. As a curator of the best cooperative games for all ages and settings, my goal is to spread knowledge about cooperative play and cooperative games, and to help organizations that serve the common good tap the magic of cooperative play too.

We at the Greater Lansing (Michigan) Peace Education Center organized a table of cooperative games for our annual Alternative Holiday Sale. Thanks to Suzanne Lyons of Cooperativegames.com for helping us pull together a selection of delightful games for all ages. It was eye-opening to many people that such games exist! We were so pleased to be able to get the word out and help foster more fun, friendly game-playing in many homes and schools. Having a few copies of Suzanne’s book was an added bonus that gave us a chance to talk about the benefits of teaching cooperative play.

Cooperative Games Paradigm: The Circle Not the Triangle

December 16, 2016 by Suzanne Lyons

Many cooperative games are played in circles. I’m including one of my favorites below. It’s a classic cooperative game for kids and adults alike.

Even when not physically played in a circular formation, cooperative games are still all about circles. If cooperative games could be symbolized by a geometric shape, it would surely be the circle. In a circle, all points are equal. Compare the circle to the triangle. In a triangle, there is one position at the top. Many more points are below.

When we join together to play a cooperative game, we embody the paradigm of the circle—not the triangle. And that feels GOOD in a world where hierarchical structures abound.

Knotty People

Materials: None needed

Time Estimate: 15 minutes

Number of Players: 5 or more

Object of the Game: To form a human knot and untie it

Game Category: Active physical game

To Play: Players stand in a small circle. They place their right hands in front of them with their thumbs up, pointing toward the sky. Players use their other hand to
hold the thumb of anyone else in the circle except players standing immediately beside them to the right or left.

Now, the challenge is to untangle this human knot. Players can turn around, step over anyone, crawl anywhere, or do anything except let go.

With some coordination and focus, most knots can be untangled. If players just cannot do it after 10 minutes or so, they are “Knotty People,” which is okay in this case 😉

If you like the game Twister you’ll love this game!