Cooperative Games & Activities For All Ages
by Josette and Ba Luvmour
New Society Publishers, 2019
ISBN 9780865719026 (sc)
$16.99, 176 pp., adult
newsociety.com
Everyone Wins! is an excellent book for teachers, daycare and camp leaders, and families. Everyone Wins! is the book you wish you had for all those days when one of the first things the students ask is “What are we doing for PE today?” The book is educator friendly and set up for quick referencing. There are over 170 games and activities presented in an easy-to-read format. Each activity includes the best location to play the game, age level, group size, materials needed, game description, variations to try, and special hints. The book is organized by activity level with “1” being the most active and “5” being least active. The indices in the book are well organized with a group size index and an age level index allowing for quick reference to fit the group you are working with.
Josette and Ba Luvmour provide an excellent introduction and preface for this book which explain the benefits of using cooperative games, experiences they have had implementing games into a school, benefits of play, and some excellent ideas for implementation and pairing and grouping students. Cooperative games are a great way to teach problem solving and group skills, promote positive social interactions, and build resiliency. These types of games help to meet a variety of diverse students’ needs, allowing all students to feel successful and part of the group.
Classroom Connections: Everyone Wins! can be used during PE classes—in the gym or on the school field—during recess breaks, in the classroom, or in outdoor education time. Playing the games as suggested in the book would be a great way to start, and after some practice, students could help to create variations. For intermediate students, this could also lead to the students inventing their own games to share with their classmates, allowing them to become the teachers during PE classes.
Review by Cindy Haack.
This review is from Canadian Teacher Magazine’s Fall 2019 issue.