If you enjoy games like me, I mean, like kids enjoy games, then this is the book for you! The author has obviously spent many years compiling numerous games and activities that are both fun and beneficial. And that's the key, that they are beneficial. Do they teach the kids something or are they just activities to keep the children busy? The best part of this book is that the games/activities are designed to actually teach the kids something. From movement awareness games, to maximizing participation in team sports games and everything in between, this book is packed with wonderful games/activities for kids to learn, experience and have fun with.

201 Games for the Elementary Physical Education Program is just what it says it is; a book designed to help the teacher provide quality games and activities, while providing the exercise and fun that kids need daily. The book is designed to make it quick and easy to find a game or activity for any situation that you may need. The games are broken up according to the type of game or activity that you want to stress. They are as follows - movement awareness, circle, single-line, double-line, tag, tag with bases, scatter formation, small group, cooperative, eye-hand coordination, maximizing participation in team sports and play day activities. The book provides a table for the grade level and play area requirements. It lists whether the game or activity can be played in the gym, grass or playground and the appropriate grade level. This is a great feature; you don't have to spend time deciding whether the game is appropriate for your students and particular game area. The book also has a dandy little area titled "Using Games Successfully in Your Physical Education Program." This is the area where safety, achieving learning objectives, maximizing participation and modifying games is discussed. This also is extremely useful when trying to keep the kid's participation and interest levels high.

The book is 232 pages long, including the index and is very easy to read and navigate. The author states it best in his introduction, "This book was written to assist you in selecting appropriate games to use in conjunction with specific educational purposes. And because the games are categorized according to their strategy and developmental levels, your selection of the right games for your teaching goals will be easier." I believe this is the best part of this book; it can help supplement current curriculum programs or can be the base for new teachers who are looking for games that challenge kids in different learning environments. Overall, I would rate this book as a must for new teachers and on a scale from 1 - 5 stars, definitely a 5.

Here are a couple of the many games I liked:

Alligator's tail Tag (Grades 3-6)
Introduction: Tell the children that they are going to be like a great alligator in the swamp who doesn't like anyone to touch its tail.
Equipment: scarves or flags to use for the alligators' tails (one for each alligator)
Game preparation: Organize the players in groups of nine or ten players, and have each group form a line. Everyone in the line must hold the waist of the person in front of them. The last person in the line tucks a "tail" in the back of their belt.
Game play: When you give the signal, the first person in line - the head of the alligator - starts to chase the tail. The players in the line have to work together to try and prevent the head from catching the tail, while making sure their line doesn't break. If the head catches the tail, the head becomes the tail and the second person in line becomes the new head.
Tip: This is a great game, but it should be played for only a short period of time, as the children will tire rapidly.

Four Square Volleyball (Grades 5-6)
Introduction: This game is similar to the traditional playground game of four-square and allows for teams of two to three players.
Equipment: volleyball nets, 4 standards, 1 trainer volleyball or beach ball
Game preparation: Crisscross two volleyball nets and number the courts as shown in the diagram. Organize players into teams of two or three, and assign one team to each court. Extra teams line up behind court 1. Score and errors are the same as in traditional volleyball.
Game play: The ball is put into play with a serve by a player from court 4. The serve must be made from behind the end line of that team and may go to any of the other three courts.
After the serve, play follows regular volleyball rules. The ball may be played into any court. A team commits an error by failing to return the ball to another court within the prescribed three volleys or by causing the ball to go out of bounds.
A team that commits an error leaves the court and goes to the end of the waiting line behind court 1. All of the remaining teams on the court move up one court - e.g., from court 1 to court 2, court 2 to court 3, etc. - as that is the court the new team entering the game will take.
Court 4 is the most desirable and a team's chief objective is to stay in court 4 as long as possible. If a team in court 4 maintains court 4 for two or more serves in a row, the players must rotate servers for every serve.

To Main Book Review Page