Unbored: The Essential Field Guide to Serious Fun [Hardcover]

Elizabeth Foy Larsen (Author), Joshua Glenn (Author), Heather Kasunick (Illustrator), Mister Reusch (Illustrator), Mark Frauenfelder (Introduction), Tony Leone (Designer)

Book Description

Release date: October 16, 2012

Unbored is the guide and activity book every modern kid needs. Vibrantly designed, lavishly illustrated, brilliantly walking the line between cool and constructive, it's crammed with activities that are not only fun and doable but also designed to get kids engaged with the wider world.

With contributions from a diverse crowd of experts, the book provides kids with information to round out their world view and inspire them to learn more. From how-tos on using the library or writing your representative to a graphic history of video games, the book isn't shy about teaching. Yet the bulk of the 350-page mega-resource presents hands-on activities that further the mission in a fun way, featuring the best of the old as well as the best of the new: classic science experiments, crafts and upcycling, board game hacking, code-cracking, geocaching, skateboard repair, yarn-bombing, stop-action movie-making-plus tons of sidebars and extras, including trivia, best-of lists, and Q&As with leading thinkers whose culture-changing ideas are made accessible to kids for the first time.

Just as kids begin to disappear into their screens, here is a book that encourages them to use those tech skills to be creative, try new things, and change the world. And it encourages parents to participate. Unbored is exciting to read, easy to use, and appealing to young and old, girl and boy. Parents will be comforted by its anti-perfectionist spirit and humor. Kids will just think it's awesome.

Contributors include Mark Frauenfelder of MAKE magazine; Colin Beavan, the No Impact Man; Douglas Rushkoff, renowned media theorist; Geoff Manaugh, author of BLDGBLOG; John Edgar Park, a CG supervisor at DisneyToon Studios; and Jean Railla, founder of GetCrafty.com and Etsy consultant.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

See Activities from Unbored

Backyard Parkour (Click here for a larger image)

Rock Out (Click here for a larger image)

Learn More About the World (Click here for a larger image)

Gross Facts About the Bedroom (Click here for a larger image)

From School Library Journal

Gr 5-8-This mixture of step-by-step how-tos, inspirational articles, comics, and excerpts from literature puts a priority on having fun and learning new skills, all while becoming more independent. An introduction by the editor of Make magazine and an opening interview with Tim Hodgkinson, editor of Idle magazine, make this intent clear. Four chapters loosely define the sections of the book and build from "You" to "Home," "Society," and finally "Adventure." Each section is subdivided further. "Society," for example, includes "Get Social," "Your School," "Save the Planet," "Make Your Own Media," and "Getting Around." Each subsection begins with an introductory article by a leader in the field. Additional articles, activities, experiments and games, lists of movies, time lines, how-tos, comics, secret messages, and section resources round-out the chapters. Activities range from traditional ideas such as knot tying to more current projects such as making "LED graffiti" or a "remote-controlled water blaster." They vary from sedentary to active and from indoor to outdoor with something for every inclination. Cartoon drawings appear on most pages, and photos are sprinkled throughout the two-column text. Many how-tos include illustrations. The book opens with a cautionary disclaimer, and additional safety and etiquette advice is included where needed. This resource will be referred to time and time again for ideas and inspiration for those unprogrammed days.-Carol S. Surges, McKinley Elementary School, Wauwatosa, WIα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA; 1 edition (October 16, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1608196410
• ISBN-13: 978-1608196418
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 7.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,535 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #8 in Books > Parenting & Relationships > Family Activities
  • #43 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Crafts & Hobbies

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Unbored: A Grandparent's New Best Friend (and Reference) December 4, 2012

By Karen E. Stout

Format:Hardcover

As a grandmother with 6 grandchildren ranging from 1-13 years of age, and as a former teacher, now professor of education, I find Unbored a refreshing change to the usual litany of "educational" activities generated to be "adult-approved." Instead, the activities leverage creativity, imagination, links to a world becoming increasingly technologically- and media-oriented, and commonplace materials and equipment. The activities are also wholistic--requiring planning from beginning to end. Additionally, children and youth can engage on their own, with friends, and with family members--including watchful parents and grandparents.

As a grandparent who wants to actively engage with my grandchildren, I appreciate such activities as "Make a Secret Book Safe," "Experimenting in the Kitchen," and my granddaughters are waiting for me to help them, "Construct a Mouse House." I want to spend my time with my grandchildren in a meaningful way--not in front of a movie or TV eating fatty popcorn and drinking sugary beverages. I also appreciate that the book taps experience from my generation, such as being home alone and cooking for yourself, melting a record to make a bowl, marbles, paper football, finger games, etc. I increasingly fear that these activities are getting lost in the world of video games and smart phone apps--which is not to say that these are necessarily bad, but instead to point out that it's a rich world that we can share with our grandchildren.

As an educator, one concern I've had for a long time is the loss of project-based learning in our schools. I remember making Valentine boxes, and the designing, planning, gathering materials, making and correcting mistakes, and having a finished product that reflected ME was a good way to learn to problem solve and make decisions in a child-centered activity. Unbored provides this type of learning, which the schools, with their emphasis on direct instruction, drill, and high stakes test preparation, have forgotten how to teach. Increasingly, when we look at whether our children are well-prepared from college, we realize that they don't have these skills, which in education, are called "self-regulation (planning, problem-solving, goal setting, etc.)." I believe Unbored helps move kids to be more self-regulated and to have fun while developing this much needed skill. It also promotes autonomy--which we want kids to have in this highly complex world--the ability and confidence to handle themselves on their own.

So, hip grandmothers (and grandfathers) with Smart Phones, who aren't afraid to get dirty, make mistakes, use a little technology and engage with media, this is the book for you! I just bought four for Santa Anonymous--every kid deserves a book written just for them--and a little subversiveness is highly needed in this overprotective environment that we now foist on our children.
Unbored: The Essential Field Guide to Serious Fun

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A road map for rainy, and sunny, days October 22, 2012

By Deborah Wassertzug

Format:Hardcover

Confession: My kids aren't quite old enough for this book. But the older one can read, and he's old enough to begin to aspire to bigger kid activities. And I'm still sufficiently in touch with my kid self to completely love the book as well. UNBORED has already staved off whines of, "I'm boooooooored." Once my kids are older, they can have fun with activities such as farting games and teaching me how to curse without cursing. Right now, we can already do some of the activities, such as geocaching, watching some of the suggested (and very fun-sounding) films, and getting crafty at home. I was a devotee of ZOOM! as a kid and treasured my copy of the ZOOM! Catalog. UNBORED is the ZOOM! Catalog for the 21st Century, and it couldn't have arrived at a better time.

--Deborah Wassertzug, Brooklyn NY

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The kind of fun kids LOVE. October 20, 2012

By Douglas Wolk

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

When I flipped through this book and read some of the section titles to my grade-school-age son--"Weird Facts About Condiments," "Best Ever Stop-Action Movies," "Fool Your Friends Into Saving the Planet"--he jumped up from his chair and insisted on reading it right away. He spent the next two hours staring at it in fascination, occasionally running over to tell us about something particularly cool in it. (He's also fascinated by the parts of it that seem to be in secret code.) Clearly, the editors know what kids are into, and I can already tell that it's going to lead him into some awesome adventures. Very, very nicely done.