Filed under: 14-18, 19-39, 30-45, 45-60, 5-9, gaming, lifestyle, motivation, movement, play, prevention, research
Video Games: Good for the Body, Good for the Brain
Mon Oct 1, 2007 5:48PM EDT
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Treadmills and stretching are out: Physical therapists are turning to the Nintendo Wii to help the injured and infirm get their grooves back while increasing flexibility and strength. Click on over to see a video of a 70-year-old patient looking awfully spry as he hits a few balls in Nintendo’s Wii Sports tennis game… all part of a medical therapy regimen. (more…)Filed under: 14-18, 5-9, barriers, cultural, gender, movement, overcoming, play, research
“COMPLETE FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT”: VIDEO GAMES AS GENDERED PLAY SPACES
by Henry Jenkins
[Download PostScript version for printing] A Tale of Two Childhoods
Sometimes, I feel nostalgic for the spaces of my boyhood, growing up in suburban Atlanta in the 1960s. My big grassy front yard sloped sharply downward into a ditch where we could float boats on a rainy day. Beyond, there was a pine forest where my brother and I could toss pine cones like grenades or snap sticks together like swords. In the backyard, there was a patch of grass where we could wrestle or play kickball and a treehouse, which sometimes bore a pirate flag and at other times, the Stars and Bars of the Confederacy. Out beyond our own yard, there was a bamboo forest where we could play Tarzan, and vacant lots, construction sites, sloping streets, and a neighboring farm (the last vestige of a rural area turned suburban).
Full Body Games, by Jonah Warren (US), is a set of three video games where the player can affect the game’s action by using his or her body, free of wires and controllers.
The user�s silhouette is extracted from a video image and projected in front of him/her. The silhouette can then interact with graphic game objects such as moving colored blocks and balls.
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http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/002496.php
All children play. From the infant squealing in delight during a game of peek-a-boo to the older child playing a game of basketball, children of all ages play and they play in all kinds of ways.
Kids and Exercise
When most adults think about exercise, they imagine working out in the gym on a treadmill or lifting weights. But for children, exercise means playing and being physically active. Kids exercise when they have gym class at school, soccer practice, or dance class. They’re also exercising when they’re at recess, riding bikes, or playing tag.
