Play for the sake of play, without any secondary goals, if of utmost importance for children's wellbeing and development. In this book you'll find guidelines to support children with disabilities' play. Providing ready-to-use information in a lay-person language, this book is for parents, teachers, rehabilitation professionals, toy manufacturers, policy makers and all persons interested in the topic of play for children with disabilities.

"Plants have magical effects on children and add a critical dimension to any play environment, whether it's a city park, a school playground, or a backyard. In Plants for Play, the author shares his years of experience in selecting plants that support children's play activities. More than 200 plant species are listed in eighteen plant function tables: Fragrance; Texture; Play Props; Fall Color; Fruits, Herbs & Nuts; Winter Flowers; Shade Quality; Wildlife Enhancement; and more. Plants are coded by climatic zone and a special section identifies and discusses poisonous plants."--The back cover.

An impassioned look at games and game design that offers the most ambitious framework for understanding them to date. As pop culture, games are as important as film or television—but game design has yet to develop a theoretical framework or critical vocabulary. In Rules of Play Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman present a much-needed primer for this emerging field. They offer a unified model for looking at all kinds of games, from board games and sports to computer and video games. As active participants in game culture, the authors have written Rules of Play as a catalyst for innovation, filled with new concepts, strategies, and methodologies for creating and understanding games. Building an aesthetics of interactive systems, Salen and Zimmerman define core concepts like "play," "design," and "interactivity." They look at games through a series of eighteen "game design schemas," or conceptual frameworks, including games as systems of emergence and information, as contexts for social play, as a storytelling medium, and as sites of cultural resistance. Written for game scholars, game developers, and interactive designers, Rules of Play is a textbook, reference book, and theoretical guide. It is the first comprehensive attempt to establish a solid theoretical framework for the emerging discipline of game design.

This book presents a comprehensive guide to the design of playing robots and the related play experiences. Play is a natural activity for building and improving abilities, and it reveals important particularly for persons with disabilities. Many social, physical and cultural factors may hinder children with disabilities from fully enjoying play as their peers. Autonomous robots with specific characteristics can enhance the ludic experience, having implications for the character of the play and presenting opportunities related to autonomy and physical movement, the very nature of robots. Their introduction into play thus provides everybody, and in particular persons with disabilities, new possibilities for developing abilities, improving general status, participating in social contexts, as well as supporting professionals in monitoring progress. This book presents a framework for the design of playful activities with robots, developed over 20 years’ experience at AIRLab - POLIMI. Part 1 introduces the play concepts and characteristics, and research results about play of children with different kinds of impairments. Part 2 focuses on implementing robots able to play. The design of playful activities is discussed, as well as the necessary characteristics for them to be useful in both general play and activities involving disability-related limitations. In Part 3, the defined framework is used to analyze possibilities involving robots available on the toy market, robots developed at research labs, and robots to be developed in the next future. The aim of the book is to give developers, caregivers, and users a set of methodological tools for selecting, exploring, and designing inclusive play activities where robots play a central role.

Learn the fascinating game of American Mahjong with this expert guide. This affordable best-selling book is one of the only available game strategy guides that is specifically geared toward American Mahjong (Mah Jongg) and follows the official National Mah Jongg League rules. Offering first-time players an easy-to-follow guide to this complex game, A Beginner's Guide to American Mah Jongg includes simple, easy-to-follow instructions and clear diagrams to walk the reader through each step of the game, including how to select a hand, how to play and how to develop winning strategies. A key feature is the color text which clearly shows various hands and tiles. This Mahjong guide includes: Step-by-step instructions for gameplay. Hands-on "Do It" exercises Tips and quizzes for easy learning Mahjong background and history An explanation of tile symbolism Glossary of Mahjong terms A Beginner's Guide to American Mah Jongg is the perfect guide for all skill levels to learn Mahjong--from Mahjong beginners to pros.