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KIDS' GAMES TOO!

Martin, Elaine
Toronto, Random House of Canada, 1992. 150pp, paper, $16.00, 0-394-22219-9. CIP


Grades 1 to 4/ Ages 6 to 9/ Adult

Reviewed by Janice Foster

Volume 21 Number 1
1993 January


The sequel to Kids' Games (Random House of Canada, 1989), which was designed for children aged three through six, Kids' Games Too! continues to provide a wide scope of games and activities for children from six to nine.

The author uses "play" as the stage for children's learning. Her book provides game-based activities to help develop social, physical and academic skills. She promotes the idea that such activities can stimulate a child's creativity. And, most important, Elaine Martin emphasizes the fun that can be shared between parent and child while they are enjoying playing games together.

The strength of this book is the interesting variety of game-based activities. The "Let's Get Physical" and Playground Fun and Games" sections supply suggestions to tap that boundless energy resource of a child while developing physical endurance. The "Numbers Count" section provides activities to develop and challenge a child's mathematical thinking. "Word Power" includes jokes, poetry, word puzzles and other ideas to stimulate language development. "Acting Up," "Artsy-Craftsy," "Art Stuff," "Making Music," "Softly, Softly" and "Out to the World" are other game/activity categories. This diversity of games and activities touches on the total development of the child and at the same time provides the child with the opportunity to incorporate his or her creativity into the activity.

Kids' Games Too! is organized by age categories, yearly and half-yearly, to facilitate finding age-appropriate games. There is a brief explanation of some of the characteristics of a child at a specific age accompanying the various game sections in each chapter. A prologue of valuable suggestions for grown-ups, a chapter on expanding your child's awareness of the "whole" world, and chapters on books, reading and holidays as well as an index are included.

The well-organized format of this book allows games and activities for children in specific age ranges to be located easily. The interesting variety of suggestions can provide hours of fun for children and parents to share. As a resource for parents, teachers and care-givers, Kids' Games Too! is excellent.


Janice Foster is a teacher with the Fort Garry School Division in Winnipeg, Manitoba
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