Unplugged Play: No Batteries. No Plugs. Pure Fun. [Paperback]

Bobbi Conner (Author)

Book Description

From the joy of smearing glue on paper to the screaming delight of a bubble-blowing relay, kids love to play. In fact, it's every kid's built-in tool for experiencing the world at large. A parent-friendly encyclopedia, UNPLUGGED PLAY ("A wonderful guide," says Daniel Goleman) offers hundreds and hundreds of battery-free, screen-free, chirp-and-beep-free games and fun variations that stretch the imagination, spark creativity, building strong bodies, and forge deep friendships...and keep kids busy at the table while mom or dad makes dinner.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Conner, author (Everyday Opportunities for Extraordinary Parenting) and host of the popular public radio program The Parent's Journal, offers more than 700 ideas for play without plugs, batteries or beeps in this imaginative collection. Conner points out that electronic play has a number of drawbacks—contributing to the rise in childhood obesity and isolation, and limiting creativity—while unplugged play builds strong bodies, helps kids forge friendships and expands the mind. In an effort to get back to the basics of play, Conner began collecting and inventing hundreds of games, then tested them on groups of children ages one to 10. The author divides the book into three sections—for toddlers, preschoolers and the six-to-10 set—with subsections on solo play, parent and child, playing with others and birthday parties. She covers a wide range of activities, from noodle necklaces to toddler basketball with a laundry basket, including indoor and outdoor play for rain or shine, with clear instructions as well as discussions of safety issues. Child development experts such as Fred Rogers and Benjamin Spock have emphasized the significance of play; Conner has taken her sources at their word and produced a fun-filled compendium likely to become a dog-eared resource for parents seeking whimsical yet practical ways to unplug the electronics and promote the physical, cognitive and emotional benefits of plain, old-fashioned play. (Aug.)
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Review

"Top quality brain food for parents. Bobbi Conner consistently offers the best public radio there is for child-aware people, and everyone can afford it." - Dr. Penelope Leach, developmental psychologist and author of YOUR BABY AND CHILD."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 516 pages
• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company (July 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761143904
• ISBN-13: 978-0761143901
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 8.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,045 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #16 in Books > Parenting & Relationships > Family Activities
  • #49 in Books > Children's Books > Sports & Games > Games

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Batteries NOT included, July 16, 2007

By 

Christine Louise Hohlbaum "award-winning auth... (near Munich, Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unplugged Play: No Batteries. No Plugs. Pure Fun. (Paperback)

Playfulness is the name of the game in childhood. Unfortunately, in their workaday world, many parents forget that all work and no play makes Little Johnny a bored, lethargic boy. Thanks to Bobbi Conner, Little Johnny just got 710 reasons to get up off the couch and join his hopscotching playmates outdoors.

Veteran radio show host on NPR, Bobbi Conner is concerned about today's kids and their lack of creative outlets. Instead of being busy with electronic entertainment such as video games and push-button toys, she suggests myriad avenues to get down to the business of play in fun, very simple ways. Unlike many guide books that read more like a Martha Stewart manual (and must be secretly backed by major craft store chains), Bobbi's approach is simple - take what you have at home and let `er rip.

The book is divided into three useful sections - toddler play; preschooler play; and grade school play. It was gratifying to see many of the games we've thought up on our own are in the book. Necessity is the mother of invention. This book is the mother of children's creativity.

Bobbi's tone is real-life and compassionate, not patronizing or oozing with `expertise'. She was once a time-strapped single mom raising her kids with nothing more than her ingenuity to keep them occupied. When we think back to our own childhoods or that of our children, the best times were those spent together around a Parchese board or telling stories to one another. But if you think you have to spend hours with your children to right the wrongs of those hundreds of TV hours your kid has logged, you're wrong. Bobbi recognizes the reality in today's world. She recommends ways in which children can learn independent play by sparking their creative thoughts and having them vary the activities themselves. You needn't micromanage their play. In fact, Bobbi warns against it.

This book came in the nick of time as my son recently had a playdate with a boy who is very `plugged' into video games and TV. Concerned we wouldn't make the three hours without hiscrying for TV, I grabbed the book and discovered some cool, easy ways to interest the boys in a new game of toss the button in the bucket. My son's friend only asked to watch TV once, but after I showed him the book and all its possibilities, he never asked again!

I highly recommend Unplugged Play for its usefulness, inventiveness, and fun. It may even remind you that all work and no play makes Little Johnny's mommy and daddy very dull girls and boys, too!

~Christine Louise Hohlbaum, author of Diary of a Mother: Parenting Stories and Other Stuff and Sahm I Am: Tales of a Stay-at-Home Mom in Europe, is a freelance writer living near Munich, Germany, with her husband and two extremely playful children.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is a winner!, August 27, 2007

By 

TJ Holmes (Rockville, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unplugged Play: No Batteries. No Plugs. Pure Fun. (Paperback)

As a pediatrician and parent, I can attest to the fact that children learn by doing, not by watching. In this wonderful book, Bobbi Conner makes it easy for parents to turn off the TV and have a ball with their children the old-fashioned way. Unplugged Play is overflowing with fun, creative ideas for how to have fun and engage young minds along the way. I hope parents buy this book in droves and put their "developmental" videos in the attic.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An awesome resource for parents, August 10, 2007

By 

Meg Cox "journalist/author/quilter" (Princeton, New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Unplugged Play: No Batteries. No Plugs. Pure Fun. (Paperback)

If only I had this book five years ago, when my son first started asking for a Game Boy! I might not have bought the device, but even if I had, I would have had a much better idea how to balance electronic, programmed "play" with free, physical, creative play. Bobbi Conner, the host of NPR's The Parent's Journal, has gathered more than 700 different games and activites together and organized them in a practical way: by age, indoor vs outdoor, by how long they take, etc. Some are active running around games, while others are quiet indoor exercises like "Doggy Diaries," in which kids imagine the secret lives of the neighborhood dogs. There are games your parents played that you forgot the rules to, and fresh ideas. The sidebars are crammed with additional information, including scientific studies showing how unstructured play helps children think more creatively and stay more active. A gem.