Purposeful Play:Early Childhood Movement Activities on a Budget » (2nd Edition)

Renee M. McCall, MS, is a certified adapted physical educator who teaches in the Early Education Program at North Syracuse (New York) Central School District. McCall has been teaching preschool adapted physical education since 1985. Among her awards are those for the 2003 Adapted Physical Activity Council National Adapted Physical Education Program of the Year and the 2002 New York State Health Department's Award of Excellence. The latter recognizes the most outstanding preschool for promotion of health and fitness in young children.

McCall is an adjunct instructor at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Cortland. Her articles on teaching have been published in both the Journal of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance and Teaching Elementary Physical Education.

Diane H. Craft, PhD, is a professor in the department of physical education at State University of New York (SUNY) at Cortland. She teaches adapted physical education and supervises practica providing physical education instruction to individuals with disabilities.

Craft is a past president of the National Consortium of Physical Education and Recreation for Individuals with Disabilities (NCPERID). Previously, she devoted 10 years to directing U.S. Department of Education federal training grants in physical education. An experienced elementary and high school physical education teacher, Craft is a committed advocate of the inclusion of children with disabilities in general physical education classes.

McCall and Craft also cowrote Moving with a Purpose: Developing Programs for Preschoolers of All Abilities, to which Purposeful Play is a companion book. The authors are highly acclaimed speakers who have conducted many presentations and workshops at state, national, and international events. They also have contributed to training videos for early childhood educators across New York State.

This resource for early childhood educators describes 36 movement activities (and 104 variations) that use commonly available classroom materials and minimal space. Special features include suggestions for using music to make the activities more fun, adapting them for a range of abilities, and using them to help children further develop their literacy skills. A game finder table links games to the curricular goals they support. The volume is not indexed. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR