101 Activities for Kids in Tight Spaces: At the Doctor's Office, on Car, Train, and Plane Trips, Home Sick in Bed . . . [Paperback]

Carol S. Kranowitz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 1995

You can never have enough space. And if you can't, just think of your kids--all the time they have to spend in tight spaces--like cars, planes, trains, the doctor's office, the grocery store, being sick or housebound, waiting in line. Kids need room to move around, but there are many times when they just plain can't have it.

While raising two exuberant boys, teaching preschool, leading Cub Scouts, and running a birthday party business, Carol Kranowitz came up with savvy, creative ways to keep kids content in tight spaces. Her activity ideas combine old standbys with new ones born of desperation and cramped quarters. They follow a philosophy that helps kids develop their different skills and abilities while entertaining themselves and interacting.

You'll find great projects for every imaginable small space parents and children encounter:

Fun Food for Tiny Kitchens: Ants on a Log, Footprints in the Snow, and Aiken Drum Faces

In the Urban Community: Windowsill Garden, Bug Jar, and Corn-on-the-Sponge

When the Walls Seem to Be Closing In: Pillow Crashing, People Sandwich, and Teeter-Totter

When what you've got is a small space and a restless child, what you need are 101 ingenious solutions--right away. Here they are--easy to implement, creative fun for the three to seven-year-old--activities that can turn tough moments into teachable, terrific ones.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Carol Stock Kranowitz, M.A., is a music and movement teacher in Washington, D.C. She lives in Bethesda, Maryland, with her husband; they have two sons.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1 edition (November 15, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312134207
• ISBN-13: 978-0312134204
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #697,257 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Now comes a new book that I'm very excited about. Co-authored with my dear friend Joye Newman, a perceptual-motor therapist, the book is "GROWING AN IN-SYNC CHILD: SIMPLE, FUN ACTIVITIES TO HELP EVERY CHILD DEVELOP, LEARN AND GROW." Perigee published it in May 2010. Unlike my previous books focusing on SPD, this one that Joye and I wrote together is for ALL children, with or without learning problems. Our message is clear: Children must get off the couch and on the move! We offer 60 enjoyable movement experiences to give kids of all ages and stages a head start and a leg up. We are delighted that "Growing an In-Sync Child" already has a growing audience. Please visit our website, www.in-sync-child.com and contact us if you would like us to do a presentation on our "In-Sync" program for your parent group or PTA.

Writing has always been a pleasure as well as a necessity to help me make sense of the world. When I write it, I get it. A subject that made no sense to me at all when I began teaching at St. Columba's Nursery School in Washington, DC, was the behavior of some little kids who seemed "out of sync" with the world. They captured my attention and my heart. Driven to learn about what made them tick -- or what made them NOT tick -- I studied Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) so I could become a better teacher. I found that SPD is a developmental problem that interferes with children's ability to function smoothly in daily life. When recognized and treated, kids (and adults) with SPD can become more "in sync."

Parents, pediatricians, teachers and other caregivers, too, need to understand how SPD plays out at home and school, so I wrote "The Out-of-Sync Child" and "The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun," both published by Perigee. Sensory World published more books, including "The Goodenoughs Get in Sync" for children, and "Preschool Sensory Scan for Educators" (or, "Preschool SENSE"), written for early childhood teachers and occupational therapists working together. You can see the whole list of my publications at www.sensoryworld.com or www.out-of-sync-child.com When I'm not writing about the kind of sensory-motor and perceptual-motor experiences that parents and teachers can provide to help children with SPD, I'm talking about it at venues all over the world.

I grew up in New Haven, Connecticut, graduated from Barnard College in New York, and earned an M.A. in Education & Human Development from George Washington University in Washington, DC. I have two splendid sons, two phenomenal daughters-in-law, and five marvelous grandchildren. My partner, Mark Zweig, and I live in Bethesda, Maryland. I play the cello, bike and hike, read real books (i.e., printed on paper), and answer every e-mail. Check it out: [e-mail]

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!, March 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: 101 Activities for Kids in Tight Spaces: At the Doctor's Office, on Car, Train, and Plane Trips, Home Sick in Bed . . . (Paperback)

It has lots of old ideas I'd forgotten from my own childhood and it has lots of new ideas. The writer understands the needs of children. They can behave a lot better if they have interesting little things to do like the ideas that are in this book.

34 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One basic problem with this book--, April 20, 1998

By 

Mary Lou Derksen (South Dakota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 101 Activities for Kids in Tight Spaces: At the Doctor's Office, on Car, Train, and Plane Trips, Home Sick in Bed . . . (Paperback)

I have a basic problem with this book: it's too small! Although 101 activities sound like a lot, when you break them down into situations in which they are workable (at home, waiting in the doctor's office, in the car/train/airplane, sick in bed, etc.) a person might like more ideas. The activities presented in the book are simple. They are fun. And all of them I have tried work (many are old stand-bys that this grandma used with her own children-but many were new to me). I plan to use them soon on a long trip with my grandchildren. When could you use them next?!

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars disappointing, January 16, 2005

By 

mountainmom (Tooele, UT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 101 Activities for Kids in Tight Spaces: At the Doctor's Office, on Car, Train, and Plane Trips, Home Sick in Bed . . . (Paperback)

I bought this book in preparation for an airplane trip with my family, including a 5 year old autistic daughter. As I am familiar with Kranowitz's book The Out of Sync Child, regarding sensory integration, I was disappointed that there was not more in the book that I could use with my daughter. Also, the ideas that could be used away from home are somewhat limited.

I have found some fun activities in this book to do with my children at home, so it is not a worthless book. However, it didn't really fill the need I was looking for.