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Play These Games: 101 Delightful Diversions Using Everyday Items
Using simple, everyday items found around the house, Play These Games will inspire kids and the young at heart with a spectrum of ingenious games to make and play so they’ll never be bored again!
•Gather family photos to create a personalized set of Go Fish cards
•Grab loose buttons for button golf, shuffle button, and button hockey
•Unleash your inner pinball wizard with a clothespin and cardboard box version of the arcade classic
•Get out the hula hoops and brooms for a backyard jousting tournament
•Try one of fifteen variations of the classic game of Tag
Whether it’s competitive or cooperative, for large groups or duos, the games in this clever guide are fun to create and a blast to play.
•Gather family photos to create a personalized set of Go Fish cards
•Grab loose buttons for button golf, shuffle button, and button hockey
•Unleash your inner pinball wizard with a clothespin and cardboard box version of the arcade classic
•Get out the hula hoops and brooms for a backyard jousting tournament
•Try one of fifteen variations of the classic game of Tag
Whether it’s competitive or cooperative, for large groups or duos, the games in this clever guide are fun to create and a blast to play.
- GenresParentingNonfiction
256 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2012
6 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
Heather Swain
20 books18 followersHeather Swain lives in a crooked house in Brooklyn, New York with her husband, two children, and a barkless dog. She is the author of novels for adults and young adults, craft books, and numerous short stories, personal essays, and non-fiction articles.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 12, 2012
What do you do on a rainy day or even on a nice day when you'd like some variety in your family or friend's gathering? Heather Swain has put together 101 games that range from the simple to complex but which are guaranteed to involve everyone who want to have fun!
How about a goofy game of "Loony Balloons?" All it takes is writing paper, pen or pencil, scissors, plenty of balloons, and the ability to write goofy directions on paper, like "Rub your belly and pat your head while singing the Star Spangled Banner," which will be inserted into the balloons. The game involves bouncing the balloons until they pop when one discovers secret directions to follow. Silly but can liven up a party for sure or a boring afternoon. Trivia questions can be substituted in place of silly directions for any age group.
Or perhaps you might like a game of "Money in the Bank" where one plays with buttons representing a nickel, dime or whatever value you choose. On the other hand, maybe you love puzzles and can create your own with craft sticks, messing up the sticks after drawing your picture on the sticks and then giving your players a set (or no definite) time to reassemble the puzzle pieces.
These games also involve beanbags, books, cardboard boxes, dress-ups, felt, foam boards, paper cups, digital camera and photo printer, ping-pong balls, and so many more items that are cheap and will provide hours of planning and fun. The games range from easy to complex which obviously covers a broad age range.
This is a great book and one this reviewer intends to keep and use with my next day or evening with friends, family, and acquaintances. Eating and drinking are great at a get-together but adding one of these games will provide a memorable time for all! Unique and very nicely done, Heather Swain!
How about a goofy game of "Loony Balloons?" All it takes is writing paper, pen or pencil, scissors, plenty of balloons, and the ability to write goofy directions on paper, like "Rub your belly and pat your head while singing the Star Spangled Banner," which will be inserted into the balloons. The game involves bouncing the balloons until they pop when one discovers secret directions to follow. Silly but can liven up a party for sure or a boring afternoon. Trivia questions can be substituted in place of silly directions for any age group.
Or perhaps you might like a game of "Money in the Bank" where one plays with buttons representing a nickel, dime or whatever value you choose. On the other hand, maybe you love puzzles and can create your own with craft sticks, messing up the sticks after drawing your picture on the sticks and then giving your players a set (or no definite) time to reassemble the puzzle pieces.
These games also involve beanbags, books, cardboard boxes, dress-ups, felt, foam boards, paper cups, digital camera and photo printer, ping-pong balls, and so many more items that are cheap and will provide hours of planning and fun. The games range from easy to complex which obviously covers a broad age range.
This is a great book and one this reviewer intends to keep and use with my next day or evening with friends, family, and acquaintances. Eating and drinking are great at a get-together but adding one of these games will provide a memorable time for all! Unique and very nicely done, Heather Swain!
May 19, 2012
There's 104 days of summer vacation, And school comes along just to end it, So the annual problem for our generation, Is finding a good way to spend it, Like maybe...." This is the beginning of the opening theme song to Phineas and Ferb on The Disney Chanel. If you have kids or work with kids there is a good chance you are familiar with this cartoon. If not, you should look it up. It's actually very entertaining for a kid's show. However you might be asking yourself what the cartoon and Play These Games have in common. Well, just like the cartoon you might be wondering what to do on your (kids) summer vacation. Heather Swain has some pretty good ideas in this book. "101 Delightful Diversions Using Everyday Items." This is one of the things I like best about this book. These games use everything from balloons, paper, buttons, books, and much much more. Even if you do need to go out and buy a few items, it won't be that expensive. Swain also introduces new variations to classic games such as tag and ping pong. Swain also gives facts about the materials mentioned in this book to go along with the games. You can play these games with just a few kids or a larger group. These games are easy to play with minimal preparations. This book would be great year round for rainy days or birthday parties. This is a great book to have to get the kids out from in front of the television/video games. The only danger in this book is having too much fun!
April 28, 2012
Play These Games: 101 Delightful Diversions Using Everyday Items is a book that everyone should pick up a copy of. This book had tons of fun and interactive games to play. Mrs. Swain does show you how to have fun without spending tons of money with this book. Some are new games and others are games just with a new twist to them. Games like:
Loony Balloons
Materials:
Writing paper
Pen or pencil
Scissors
Balloons
Write silly actions on the papers like..Bark like a dog, act like a chicken, Moo like a cow, etc. Write enough actions for each person playing. Put the papers in the balloons, blow them up.
How to play:
Everyone sits in a circle on the floor. Hand the first balloon to the first person, who bounces on it three times. If it pops, the player finds the instruction and follows it, than moves to the outside of the circle. Repeat until everyone has had a turn.
Love to play golf or even miniature golf. Well you can play it at home. Stuffed animal charades. There are so many games that I know me and my nephews will have tons of fun trying them all out.
Loony Balloons
Materials:
Writing paper
Pen or pencil
Scissors
Balloons
Write silly actions on the papers like..Bark like a dog, act like a chicken, Moo like a cow, etc. Write enough actions for each person playing. Put the papers in the balloons, blow them up.
How to play:
Everyone sits in a circle on the floor. Hand the first balloon to the first person, who bounces on it three times. If it pops, the player finds the instruction and follows it, than moves to the outside of the circle. Repeat until everyone has had a turn.
Love to play golf or even miniature golf. Well you can play it at home. Stuffed animal charades. There are so many games that I know me and my nephews will have tons of fun trying them all out.
August 26, 2014
This was a random pull off the library shelf because I thought the cover was pretty (which is, incidentally, also how I usually pick wine). But it is a very sweet little book that gives tons of ideas for games to play with regular household or craft materials. There were some in there that I remember playing as a child, and others that were brand new to me. There's not a whole lot in there for the under-5 set, but I think there's plenty that I'll be able to use for my oldest daughter's 6th birthday. Cute ideas, arranged by main material used (e.g. "games with balloons," "games with hula hoops," etc).
October 5, 2012
This book was a mixed bag for me. I thought it was well organized, simple to follow, and included a wide variety of games. But when I finished, I was disappointed by how few pages I'd marked as "to try."
So I guess I'll start with those I want to try. The first on my list is Big Foot Box Shoe Race - my daughter loves shoes, arts 'n' crafts, and running, so this game is made for her. I'll let her decorate a few pairs of box shoes and we can use them to race around the house/yard. (I can see her box shoe collection growing to rival her actual shoe collection, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.)
Most of the bean bag games struck me as easy and enjoyable. And once you've made the bean bags, the games you can invent to play are nearly endless.
Bombardment will be fun when my daughter is older. This game is a spin on dodge ball - two teams stand on either side of a divider line, except instead of throwing balls at each other to knock the other team out, they instead try to take out a row of cans or bottles. Games like dodge ball always seem to end with someone intentionally beaming someone else in the face. So I'm glad this version eliminates the human target.
Pinball Machine seems like a pretty epic undertaking, and as cool as it would be to build one myself, I just don't know if I have the patience to see that project through. So for now it's on the maybe list, and definitely more for me than the kid at this point.
In future, I'm sure we'll play some of the paper games listed - Squiggles and Dot-to-Dot Grid are definites (my siblings and I know these games as "Lines" and "Dots," but we enjoyed them a lot in my preteen and early teen years).
There were a few games that my daughter and I played when she was about one - Digging for Treasure (hide objects in a rice-filled shoe box) and Knock Down the Tower (stack cups and use something to knock them over - the book recommended using bean bags, but we used wind-up toy trains and cars). Then there were a few that I just couldn't really see as being much fun - Around the Hoop (having a group of kids hold hands in a circle and pass a hula hoop around) in particular struck me as dull.
I guess the bottom line is that Play These Games has a lot to offer, and it's an incredibly quick read, just don't expect it to introduce you to groundbreaking, mind-blowing, earth-shattering new games. Just fun stuff you can do with common items and a little imagination.
So I guess I'll start with those I want to try. The first on my list is Big Foot Box Shoe Race - my daughter loves shoes, arts 'n' crafts, and running, so this game is made for her. I'll let her decorate a few pairs of box shoes and we can use them to race around the house/yard. (I can see her box shoe collection growing to rival her actual shoe collection, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.)
Most of the bean bag games struck me as easy and enjoyable. And once you've made the bean bags, the games you can invent to play are nearly endless.
Bombardment will be fun when my daughter is older. This game is a spin on dodge ball - two teams stand on either side of a divider line, except instead of throwing balls at each other to knock the other team out, they instead try to take out a row of cans or bottles. Games like dodge ball always seem to end with someone intentionally beaming someone else in the face. So I'm glad this version eliminates the human target.
Pinball Machine seems like a pretty epic undertaking, and as cool as it would be to build one myself, I just don't know if I have the patience to see that project through. So for now it's on the maybe list, and definitely more for me than the kid at this point.
In future, I'm sure we'll play some of the paper games listed - Squiggles and Dot-to-Dot Grid are definites (my siblings and I know these games as "Lines" and "Dots," but we enjoyed them a lot in my preteen and early teen years).
There were a few games that my daughter and I played when she was about one - Digging for Treasure (hide objects in a rice-filled shoe box) and Knock Down the Tower (stack cups and use something to knock them over - the book recommended using bean bags, but we used wind-up toy trains and cars). Then there were a few that I just couldn't really see as being much fun - Around the Hoop (having a group of kids hold hands in a circle and pass a hula hoop around) in particular struck me as dull.
I guess the bottom line is that Play These Games has a lot to offer, and it's an incredibly quick read, just don't expect it to introduce you to groundbreaking, mind-blowing, earth-shattering new games. Just fun stuff you can do with common items and a little imagination.
July 11, 2012
Posted on Romancing the Book's blog
Reviewed by Sarah L.
Review Copy provided by the Publisher
Play These Games is the perfect handbook for those looking for inexpensive, easy to play games for a variety of ages and number of players. This book would have been a lifesaver for me the summer I was the games instructor at my son’s day camp or even back when I had my own in-home daycare. Each game has good detailed instructions including how many players, a brief overview of the game, materials needed, prep work and how to play. While the illustrations are fairly basic, they are still easily understandable.
The games are broken down by categories such as balloons, hula hoops, paper, cardboard boxes, etc. Each category starts off with interesting tidbits about the main item. For example, did you know that “early balloons were made from dried animal bladders”? The book is filled with lots of fun, interesting facts. Most of it probably could be called useless trivia but the kids and I got a huge kick out of it.
The book kind of reminded me of the game show Minute to Win It. I like how basic everyday stuff around the house was used in fun and unique ways. One thing I would have liked to have seen included was alternate directions for some of the games involving lots of players so they could be adapted to smaller groups. Some categories like balloons seemed to have mostly games for 3+ players but buttons however were geared more for 1 or 2 players.
Finally, I like the variety of skill levels throughout. Some games such as balloon battle or house of books were pretty basic but some like the pinball machine and mini foosball were much more elaborate and will be tackled sometime in the future. My family’s favorite so far is indoor tennis.
Reviewed by Sarah L.
Review Copy provided by the Publisher
Play These Games is the perfect handbook for those looking for inexpensive, easy to play games for a variety of ages and number of players. This book would have been a lifesaver for me the summer I was the games instructor at my son’s day camp or even back when I had my own in-home daycare. Each game has good detailed instructions including how many players, a brief overview of the game, materials needed, prep work and how to play. While the illustrations are fairly basic, they are still easily understandable.
The games are broken down by categories such as balloons, hula hoops, paper, cardboard boxes, etc. Each category starts off with interesting tidbits about the main item. For example, did you know that “early balloons were made from dried animal bladders”? The book is filled with lots of fun, interesting facts. Most of it probably could be called useless trivia but the kids and I got a huge kick out of it.
The book kind of reminded me of the game show Minute to Win It. I like how basic everyday stuff around the house was used in fun and unique ways. One thing I would have liked to have seen included was alternate directions for some of the games involving lots of players so they could be adapted to smaller groups. Some categories like balloons seemed to have mostly games for 3+ players but buttons however were geared more for 1 or 2 players.
Finally, I like the variety of skill levels throughout. Some games such as balloon battle or house of books were pretty basic but some like the pinball machine and mini foosball were much more elaborate and will be tackled sometime in the future. My family’s favorite so far is indoor tennis.
May 6, 2012
Review from Paula Day
Remember the days when kids used to play games? Run around outside and play tag or hide and seek? I love technology as much as the next person, but it’s a little sad sometimes seeing kids as young as three or four more interested in their electronic gadgets than actual people.
Never fear. Heather Swain, a former third grade teacher and mother of two, has found 101 activities for kids using simple items found around the house. From bean bags to treasure boxes, from cup ball to Go Fish, these activities are a great way for parents and kids to spend quality time together. If it’s a rainy day, or if you just want to get your kids away from their video games for a while, you’ll enjoy skimming through this book to find something fun to do together. I’m hanging onto this book because I know the activities inside will come in handy.
Obviously, the audience for this book is very specific. Parents with younger children will find Play These Games $14 well spent. But if you’re an aunt or an uncle of young children, or even grandparents or babysitters, you’ll want to get your hands on a copy of this book for all of the hours of entertainment and enjoyment it will provide.
Remember the days when kids used to play games? Run around outside and play tag or hide and seek? I love technology as much as the next person, but it’s a little sad sometimes seeing kids as young as three or four more interested in their electronic gadgets than actual people.
Never fear. Heather Swain, a former third grade teacher and mother of two, has found 101 activities for kids using simple items found around the house. From bean bags to treasure boxes, from cup ball to Go Fish, these activities are a great way for parents and kids to spend quality time together. If it’s a rainy day, or if you just want to get your kids away from their video games for a while, you’ll enjoy skimming through this book to find something fun to do together. I’m hanging onto this book because I know the activities inside will come in handy.
Obviously, the audience for this book is very specific. Parents with younger children will find Play These Games $14 well spent. But if you’re an aunt or an uncle of young children, or even grandparents or babysitters, you’ll want to get your hands on a copy of this book for all of the hours of entertainment and enjoyment it will provide.
July 27, 2012
Great resource for fast games for groups.
February 27, 2013
What a great book! My daughter and I have been having fun playing some of the bean bag and button games, and I plan to use some of these games in theatre workshops for adults.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews