Play Like An Animal: STEM Play Prompts for Screen Time Breaks

Play Like An Animal: STEM Game Cards to Prompt Creative Play

Best Users: Public Librarians, School Librarians, Educators, Physical Educators, Home Learning
Best Audience: Children Grades 00-03

READ ALOUD WITH THE AUTHOR

ABOUT THE STEM Game Cards

To say healthy, doctors say, “Play every day!” Why? Because it’s fun! And scientists says free play stimulates brain growth. That’s just a fancy way of saying playing makes you smarter and more ready to face the world. Make time for play every day! —Maria Gianferrari

Are your kids fidgeting or needing to get away from their screens? Invite them to “play like an animal.” We have taken the animals, action words, and STEM facts from the picture book Play Like an Animal!: Why Critters Splash, Race, Twirl, and Chase to create game cards for creative play. Game cards come with an invitation to make your own rules (like wolves and gorillas), create play environments, and play further with STEM.

DOWNLOAD Play Like an Animal: Game: Single Sided Cards (PDF)

Image © Mia Powell

ABOUT THE BOOK

Play Like an Animal!: Why Critters Splash, Race, Twirl, and Chase
By Maria Gianferrari
Illustrated by Mia Powell
Published by Lerner Publishing Group
Age Range: 8-9 Years

Dash! Hide! Splash! Ride! Exuberant text celebrates all the different ways animals play, from rhinos taking mud baths and parrots somersaulting through the air to kangaroos boxing and dolphins diving through the surf. Additional text explains how playing benefits animals. Fascinating back matter gives more information about the featured animals in the book and encourages readers to make time to play every day!

“Fun for sharing one-on-one, the book often shows animals engaged in activities that children enjoy. The lively artwork…offers energetic scenes of animals in motion. The last double-page spread shows kids playing, too. An inviting choice for animal-lovers.”
—Booklist
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“A fun way for children to realize that animals play just like them. Great for libraries looking to beef up their animal collections.”
—School Library Journal
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“Just like human children, animals love to play, both to practice adult skills and to have fun. Gianferrari plays with words, especially action verbs, to introduce an unusual array of animals…A lively addition to the animal shelf.”
—Kirkus Reviews

THE GIVEAWAY WINNERS

We were delighted to give away a copy of Play Like an Animal!: Why Critters Splash, Race, Twirl, and Chase to 12 educators, librarians, physical educators, or literacy professionals. Our thanks to Lerner Publishing Group for this donation to promote creative play!