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Games for Change

Games for Change is a nonprofit organization that desires “to inspire direct action and real world impact through engaging gameplay.”1 To assist in global humanitarian efforts and educational needs, Games for Change facilitates the creation and distribution of social impact games.

1. Ramos, Jeff. “Can Food Force and WeTopia change the social gaming industry?” Games for Change Blog. 1 Dec. 2011. < http://www.gamesforchange.org/blog/ > 16 Dec. 2011.

Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium

Jessie H. Bancroft wrote Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium in 1909 as a practical guide of 400 games for adult and child players in active games, quiet games, singing games, skilled athletic feats, and ball and bean bag games. He believed that “play, in games and other forms, is nature's own way of developing and training power. As (Karl) Groos impressively says, 'We do not play because we are young; we have a period of youth so that we may play.'”1

1. Bancroft, Jessie H. Games for the Playground, Home, school and Gymnasium. New York: The MacMillan Company, 1923. p. 15.

Games With Rules

Games with rules is a level of play that imposes rules that must be followed by the players. It requires self-regulation by the children who play, so they can successfully follow the rules and curb their own personal ego needs. Games with rules are often characterized by logic and order, and as children grow older they can begin to develop strategy and planning in their game playing.1

1. Frost, Joe L., Pei-San Brown, John A. Sutterby, Candra D. Thornton. The Developmental Benefits of Playgrounds. Olney, MD: Association for Childhood Education International, 2004. p. 25.

GameTime

GameTime, a division of Playcore, began operations in 1929 in Michigan. Fifty years later they relocated to Fort Payne, Alabama. They use research-based design and engineering in manufacturing the company’s products. GameTime’s independent research studies are conducted by noted experts in the fields of fitness, nature, education, and urban issues, and are used as the foundation when designing their products. Some of the research has included: the Comparison of Physical Activity on a Play Structure Between Age Groups over Twenty Weeks, the Relevance of Height for Child Development and Playground Safety, and the Nature and Benefits of Children’s Climbing Behaviors and the Functions and Benefits of Playground Swings. These research projects were led by Drs.

GameTime Athletics

GameTime Athletics provides equipment and supplies for the sports and sport fields of recreational, school, and collegiate programs. Based in Weston, Missouri, they offer both sports facility equipment and supplies and sports field construction and maintenance.

GenMove

GenMove is dedicated to providing programs, staff services, and equipment that assists every child to experience athletic achievements, contribute to a team, and choose a healthy lifestyle regardless of physical limitations, athletic abilities, or past experiences. They aim to positively influence today's children throughout their lives and then their children's lives, thus their motto: Moving Generations.1

1. “Why GenMove.” GenMove USA. < http://www.genmoveusa.com/About/Our-Philosophy.aspx > 21 Nov. 2011.

Glamis Adventure Playground

The Glamis Adventure Playground, located in the Shadwell area of East London, is a free supervised playground that provides a wide range of child-centered and child-driven activities. The local children, ages 6-16, can play indoors or outdoors, build or remodel play structures, grow plants and explore natural settings, create real and fantasy places with loose parts, and repair bikes.1 A hand painted sign at the entrance declares the inclusive nature of Glamis Adventure Playground, “There is no war here. We are all fantastic.”2

1. “What we do and how.” Shadwell Community Project. < http://www.shadwellcommunityproject.org/wordpress/?page_id-34 > 20 Sep. 2012.
2. Wilson, Penny. “Glamis Adventure Playground.” The Internationale.

Global Toy News

Richard Gottlieb, a known authority on the “business of play” and CEO of Global Toy Experts, created the blog Global Toy News because he felt there was a need “for serious (and sometimes playful) commentary on the toy industry.” His commentary has ranged from exploring controversial issues and trends to discussions of books, games, TV, sports, science, music and interviews of toy industry leaders.

Godbey, Geoffrey

Dr. Geoffrey C. Godbey is a teacher, scholar, speaker, author, and consultant concerning the history and philosophies of leisure, leisure and health, leisure and aging, parks and public recreation, and the future of leisure behavior. As a spokesman for the recreation and tourism field, Dr. Godbey had been “placing leisure into larger and larger contexts, thereby giving leisure larger and larger meaning.”1

1. Dustin, Dan. “A Tribute to Geoffrey C. Godbey.” Journal of Leisure Research. 1 Jan. 2007. online: Goliath: Business Knowledge on Demand. < http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-6282070/A-tribute-to-Geoffrey-C.html > 11 Dec. 2011.

Golinkoff, Roberta Michnick

Dr. Roberta Michnick Golinkoff believes “play is the vehicle through which children maximize their development” and that “children learn best through play and when their learning is embedded in a playful context.”1 As a professor, director, researcher, writer, and speaker, Dr. Golinkoff is “a scientific advocate for children.”2

1. “Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, Ph.D., Biography.” University of Delaware. <http://udel.edu/~roberta/biography.html> 19 Oct. 2011.
2. Ibid.

Good Sports

Good Sports, a nonprofit organization, was founded in 2003 in Boston, Massachusetts. With the sponsorship support of Spalding, Good Sports began by supplying 500 basketballs to 2,000 disadvantaged children.1 Thus began their mission of encouraging healthy, active lifestyles in disadvantaged youths, aged 5-18 years old, through the distribution of sports equipment, footwear, and apparel to community sports organizations and health centers.2

1. “Melissa T. Harper.” National Recreation Foundation. <http://www.nationalrecreationfoundation.org/crawford-winner> 13 April 2011.
2. “What We Do!” Good Sports. <http://www.goodsports.org/aboutus.shtml> 13 April 2011.

Gordon, Gwen

Gwen Gordon is an educational media designer and producer as well as a creative consultant, coach, independent play scholar, teacher, and author. She believes that “playfulness is both the process and the product of evolution,” and that “whenever we take the leap into spontaneous free play we catch a glimpse of our unbounded true nature that we share with all creation.”1

Gwen began a life of play designing and building Muppets for Sesame Street. She continued exploring play at the MIT Media Lab where she built a furry computer playstation for children and at Tell Tale Technologies where she designed alternative computer input devices.

1. “Core Ideas.” Gwen Gordon. < http://www.gwengordonplay.com/core_ideas.html > 4 May 2012.

Goric Marketing Group USA

Rick Henke founded the Goric Marketing Group USA in 1994 to create playgrounds of “natural beauty, structural integrity, and intergenerational fun.”1 With his background in engineering and his involvement in developing playground safety standards in Canada, Rick was a creator of integrated playscapes, accessible play equipment for children of all abilities.

1. “About Goric.” Goric Marketing Group USA, Inc. < http://www.goric.com/about_goric.php > 9 May 2011.

GP RED

GP RED is a nonprofit organization that works “to identify and fill gaps in knowledge and practical resources” in the health, park, recreation, and land management industries and community “quality of life” agencies.1 By collaborating with industry associations, universities, private and nonprofit organizations, public agencies, and industry professionals, GP RED facilitates the creation of inter-disciplinary management tools, research, and development strategies to support and enhance the work of these industries and agencies.

1. “Research, Education, and Development for Health, Recreation, and Land Agencies.” GP RED. < http://www.gpred.org/ > 14 May 2012.

Green Hearts Institute for Nature in Childhood

Green Hearts Institute for Nature in Childhood is a nonprofit conservation organization focused on “bringing children and nature back together” as a crucial step in raising a new generation of conservation-minded adults.1 Their work is based on research that shows frequent, unstructured childhood play in natural settings to be the most common influence on adult conservation values, while it also supports the healthy social, emotional, intellectual, creative, and physical development of children.

1. “Welcome to Green Hearts!” Green Hearts Inc. < http://www.greenheartsinc.org/ > 21 March 2012.

Grip

Grip is defined as the act of grasping and holding fast.1 Boys and girls have approximately the same grip strength until the age of 10 years, when boys’ grip strength becomes increasingly stronger than girls. Left-handed children tend to have equal strength in both hands, while right-handed children are significantly stronger in their dominant hand.2

1. “Grip.” Dictionary.com < www.dictionary.com > 30 July 2010.
2. Hager-Ross, C. and B. Rosblad. “Norms for grip strength in children aged 4-16 years.” PubMed.gov. < http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12162590 > 30 July 2010.

Grounds For Play

Dr. Eric Strickland, one of the owners of Grounds For Play, Inc., first began consulting, designing, and building playground projects when he was a doctoral student under Dr. Joe Frost at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas. In 1979, he became an assistant professor of Elementary and Early Childhood Education at the University of Texas at Arlington and continued to consult with churches and child care centers on their playgrounds. Eventually the consulting and designing grew to also include building the playgrounds.

Gulick, Luther

Luther Halsey Gulick gave significant leadership and promotion to the playground and recreation movements of the early 1900s. With most of his time involved in the fields of physical education and hygiene, he liked to take ideas and thoughts, develop them further, put an organization together to bring the ideas to fruition, and then turn the leadership over to others while he moved on to another set of ideas.1

1. Butler, George D. Pioneers in Public Recreation. Minneapolis, MN: Burgess Publishing Company, 1965. p. 55.

Gun Play

Children have fantasized about triumphing over evil for years. Fighting the “bad guys” seems to be an inherent desire, especially for boys, who use gun play as a means to feel empowered. Whether children are playing cowboys and Indians, cops and robbers, pirates, soldiers, or spies, play guns are usually involved as they engage in pretend play.1

1. Huffman, Todd. “Toy Guns and Gunplay: Should Parents Be Worried?” McKenzie Pediatrics. < http://www.mckenzie-pediatrics.com/shop/images/ToyGuns.pdf > 15 June 2011.