Winner of the Skipping Stones Award for Best Teaching Resource
The Cooperative Games
Bullying Prevention Program
Discover how cooperative play can help children connect, build confidence, and make bullying a thing of the past.
Play Your Way to a Kinder Classroom
This book is an all-in-one resource that explains the why and how-to of cooperative play. It provides scholarship and research as well as a wealth of teaching tips, pedagogical support, and directions for over 50 cooperative games. It is a useful tool kit for those who work with children and it belongs on the shelf of every early childhood educator. It is also a highly readable and fascinating story for anyone who cares about the state of the world and the magic that can happen when people join together in the spirit of playful cooperation.
Written by educator and CooperativeGames.com founder Suzanne Lyons, M.A., M.A., this richly illustrated 154-page guide will show you everything you need to know to use cooperative games in social-and-emotional learning, teach kindness and even prevent bullying.
🏆 2017 Skipping Stones Multicultural Magazine Book Award
🎲 Step-by-step instructions for research-tested active and board games
🎓 Designed for PreK–Grade 2 classrooms and early learning settings
📸 Filled with illustrations and classroom photos
💬 Includes expert insights, teaching tips, and bonus activities
🏆 2017 Skipping Stones Multicultural Magazine Book Award 🎲 Step-by-step instructions for research-tested active and board games 🎓 Designed for PreK–Grade 2 classrooms and early learning settings 📸 Filled with illustrations and classroom photos 💬 Includes expert insights, teaching tips, and bonus activities
Why Educators Love
This Program
The program is classroom-tested and shown to work. Pro-social behavior increases and aggression decreases with the set of cooperative games described in this program. Teachers can start right away, no special equipment or training required.
Research-Tested & Ready to Use
Nurtures Emotional Intelligence Early
Play becomes the practice ground for kindness. Children learn how to take turns, manage emotions, empathize and support one another in a joyful, natural way.
Builds Inclusive, Caring Classrooms
The program helps teachers shift classroom culture from “me versus you” to “we.” That shift transforms behavior, belonging, and learning.
Praise for The Bullying Prevention Program
“…Apart from its other benefits, including pure fun, Lyons shows us that helping children to play with, rather than against, one another may help create school climate where bullying is less likely to take root.”
Alfie Kohn
Author of No Contest, The Case Against Competition
“The Cooperative Games Bullying Prevention Program is a great piece of work and significant contribution to bullying prevention. Through the use of practical, easy to implement, and class-friendly games, Suzanne Lyons promotes a new mindset regarding the substantial impact of cooperatively structured play activities. This work reaches into and beyond bullying prevention with techniques that transform classrooms into social milieus reinforcing values of sharing, kindness and peace…”
Dr. April Bay
Psychologist and Author of the University of Nevada Reno study, “Cooperative
Games: A Way to Modify Aggressive and Cooperative Behaviors in Young Children”
“…The more we play together, the happier we’ll be…This delightful book is a cooperative gem!”
Raffi
Singer, Author and Founder of the Centre for Child Honouring
“Lyons makes clear the many benefits children reap when they play together…I could almost hear children’s laughter as I read the directions for active learning games like Pass the Funny Face. I would love to see this book used widely in teacher education.”
—Professor Mimi Coughlin PhD
Professor of Education, Sacramento State University
“Having just read Suzanne Lyons’ fantastic book, The Cooperative Game Bullying Prevention Program, I realize something I have felt but not articulated to myself before. Competition, even in activities I otherwise enjoy, can easily lead to tension between people and that tension can easily lead to bad feelings and even domination, meanness, and bullying. This book opened my eyes. Surely we should rethink competition as a culture and be very careful with it, especially when it comes to encouraging children to compete. This book makes interesting reading for everyone concerned with the state of the world and the future, at the same time that the book is an actionable plan for those who work with children.
It will be a different world if children learn to love the cooperative game of life. Suzanne’s book is a powerful step in that direction!”
— Rev Phillip Pierson DDvUnity Minister and Author of The Metaphysics of Buckminster Fuller
“Suzanne Lyons’ wonderful book examines, in a most delightful and clear way, why learning to cooperate is important and how cooperative games can instill the cooperative habit. As you read, you’ll quickly see how different this orientation is compared to the competitive mode we are trained to adopt. If you read with an open mind, you will probably discover what you missed in the games of your youth. You may even conclude that taking on a playfully cooperative attitude can help bring you success in many areas of your own life today! As a physician, I see that cooperative play relates to the health of children and adults—and to society as a whole as well.”
— Emmett Miller MDPhysician and Author of Deep Healing
“…Multiple research studies in early childhood education reveal that early intervention yields highest impact. In this book, Suzanne Lyons provides a way to reduce bullying through early intervention. She provides strong research, teacher tips, and fun games that nurture cooperation and discourage competition. This method of prevention and intervention is worth its weight in gold.”
— Neva BandelowProgram Coordinator, Alameda County Early Care and Education Planning Council
“This is a lovely, inspiring and very practical book by Suzanne Lyons. Hats off!
And it is a great initiative. I believe it’s important to contribute to an attitude of cooperation instead of competition.
By helping young children practice cooperation through cooperative games such as those described in this book, we can nurture the development of functional and healthy neuro pathways in children. This is of the utmost importance as these children are the leaders of tomorrow.”
— Fred Matser Founder Malaria No More! Humanitarian Aid Organization Author, Rediscover Your Heart
Changing the Way We Play, Teach, and Grow
The games are fun, but the impact is profound. This program turns everyday lessons into opportunities for empathy and understanding. It empowers educators to:
Foster empathy and self-regulation through cooperative play
Replace competition with collaboration in early learning
Create safe, joyful spaces where every child belongs
Build the social foundation for lifelong kindness and respect
When play feels safe and inclusive, children relax, connect, and flourish. The result is a classroom culture rooted in trust and joy, where every child feels they belong.
Ready to get started?
Help your students grow into caring classmates and confident learners