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Cooperative Play for Every School Day

August 7, 2018 by Suzanne Lyons


Cooperative games can be used to teach all school subjects. There’s a good chance you have heard about cooperative games used in PE classes.  For example, Waldorf movement classes center on active cooperative games. And Play Works, the popular provider of recess-based play programs to urban public schools,  use cooperative PE games too. As Waldorf and Play Works show, athletic cooperative games combine play with sports and social-emotional learning to make PE fun, inclusive, and successful for everyone.

But did you know that cooperative games are not just for the playground, they can be used inside the classroom too? Cooperative games have many social-emotional learning (SEL) benefits and they make great sense from a pedagogical standpoint. Think of it this way: cooperative games combine the pedagogical advantages of cooperative learning with the merits of play-based learning.

Cooperative Learning + Play-Based Learning = Cooperative Games

This is a powerful combo! Teachers already rely on cooperative learning and play-based learning because we all know how essential these approaches are. With all of their advantages, why not combine cooperative learning with play-based learning for an even more powerfully positive teaching tool?

So teachers, child-care providers, and home-schooling parents: When you’re planning lessons, consider adding cooperative games to your SEL curricula as well as your subject area teaching—for language arts, math, science or just about any other subject.

Here is a cooperative game for the classroom that can be adapted to different subject areas and age levels. The version below is for Kindergarten-level math. It will get you started:

A board game with owls and trees on it.
A Cooperative Math Game

Where can you get more cooperative games suited to classroom learning? Check my website CooperativeGames.com which has loads of resources for teachers including instructions for free cooperative games that can be used to teach various subject areas. I also offer a variety of cooperative board games, books, and services for educators for purchase. For example:

* The Baby Beluga Game This is a cooperative board game for kids ages 3-10, made in the USA from sustainable materials. I designed and published it through my small company Child and Nature. The Baby Beluga Game teaches STEM along with SEL and was created in collaboration with Raffi. https://shop.cooperativegames.com/BabyBelugaGame_p/101.htm

* The Cooperative Games Classroom Kit  The kit consists of my book, The Cooperative Games Bullying Prevention Program, plus The Baby Beluga Game and four fabulous research-tested Family Pastimes games including Max and Harvest Time. The Classroom Kit is a great starter kit for using cooperative games in Pre-K to Grade 2+ classroom. It provides classroom tips, directions to active games, research as well as cooperative board games kids will love. https://cooperativegames.com/classroom-kit/

* Professional Development When you are ready to dive deeper and become an expert in using cooperative play in your school, schedule a webinar or workshop with me for professional development As a former classroom teacher, I specialize in practical tips and teaching strategies, sound resources, sharing the latest research—plus sharing joyful inspiration and encouragement. Workshops are fun, important, and very well-received. https://cooperativegames.com/professional-development-for-teachers/

Let’s Play Together! Good Luck and Have Fun- 

https://cooperativegames.com/

A board game with owls and trees on it.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: cooperative game for kids, cooperative games for education, cooperative games for social-emotional learning, SEL games

Cooperative Games Used in Diverse Ways: from Software Development to Yoga to Juvenile Justice Programs

June 29, 2015 by Suzanne Lyons


What I learned while presenting at the Greenlife Eco festA board game with owls and trees on it.: Diverse groups are getting interested in cooperative games : ) I spoke with a software engineer who is using cooperative games to help engineers collaborate more effectively; a yoga teacher who uses them to help people do yoga together in a fun and enriched way; a first grade teacher who uses cooperative games to help kids get along; and a counselor who works with incarcerated youth (the idea being that cooperative games help kids who are in trouble form trusting relationships). Cooperative play–powerful, peaceful, and productive! How can you add a little cooperative play to your life?

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: cooperative game for kids, cooperative games

Great Cooperative Game for Kids: The Yoga Garden Game

July 25, 2014 by Suzanne Lyons


A board game with owls and trees on it.
Yoga Garden Game, a cooperative board game that teaches yoga and getting along together at the same time

One of my top-selling cooperative games for kids is the delightful Yoga Garden Game, a cooperative board game for ages 4 and up. Parents and teachers: this game teaches yoga and cooperation, is beautiful to look at, and fun to play. Why not get in the game yourself and share the gentle joy of cooperative yoga with your kids?

Yoga Garden Game, A Great Cooperative Board Game for Kids

Players work together to move the bumblebee through the garden and plant all the flowers before night comes and it’s time for bed. The rules are quite easy to follow, and with a little practice kids can actually play it on their own: players roll a die to move the bee around the board. Depending on where the bee lands, players may plant flowers, perform a yoga pose as illustrated on the yoga cards, invent their own yoga pose….or they may land on a space that puts stars in the sky and brings on night fall.

A board game with owls and trees on it.Why I Recommend this Cooperative Board Game for Kids

I love several things about this gentle cooperative board game for kids-and for you parents and teachers (who will surely enjoy looking on if not actually playing the game):

* The art on the game board is so beautiful … it shows a garden, the sky, and has such a peaceful feeling that it makes me feel connected to nature just looking at it!

* It teaches yoga in a very accessible and fun way for kids as young as 4 years old. Yoga is great for kids, as studies now show. I appreciate that the rules remind children “Don’t forget to breathe†as they practice their poses. The yoga game cards have

A board game with owls and trees on it.
The illustrated yoga game cards teach children yoga poses. Young kids can look at the picture while an adult or older child reads the steps.

pictures of the poses as well as simple step-by-step directions anyone could follow. The game is produced by YogaKids, a mission driven company all about teaching yoga to kids.

They are sincere in their mission …and you can tell! http://www.yogakids.com/

* As a cooperative board game, kids have to work together to accomplish a common goal. No one loses and has their feelings hurt. This game works in just the opposite way compared to a competitive board game: Here, everyone wins because everyone has a good time trying to move the bumblebee around the board and plant flowers, learning yoga all the while. If the game goal is not achieved, and nighttime comes before the flowers are planted, no matter. The group can play again another day and see if they can meet the challenge. As all cooperative games show, winning is more fun when it is shared, and losing is much less disappointing when we are all in the same boat. In a cooperative game, we can practice winning or losing, having fun and learning together!

CooperativeGames.com Deal of the Day

This is one of my best selling cooperative board games at CooperativeGames.com.  My customers are all smiles about it. To share the joy, I’m offering a 10% discount on the game right now. Go to our Deal of the Day Page at CooperativeGames.com. To see more and purchase the Yoga Garden Game, click  http://shop.cooperativegames.com/dealoftheday.asp

To shop our entire selection of cooperative board games, games for young and old alike,  go to http://shop.cooperativegames.com/

Thanks and Enjoy!

A board game with owls and trees on it.
Kids learning yoga in the classroom with the Yoga Garden Game

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: cooperative game, cooperative game for kids, cooperative play, yoga garden game

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