Acting Out!: Avoid Behavior Challenges with Active Learning Games and Activities, Paperback

Movement is not misbehavior Current policies in the early childhood field ask teachers to treat children as though they exist from the neck up--even though research clearly demonstrates that the mind-body connection is vital to development. Rae Pica, founder and director of Rae Pica Keynotes & Consulting and author of the Moving and Learning series, advocates for active learning, not only because it's developmentally appropriate but because doing so promotes a calmer, friendlier, and less challenging learning environment.

Section I provides theory, research, and language to advocate for active learning. Section II offers suggestions on how to update learning environments, and Rae offers some of her own past missteps in hopes that readers will be able to learn from her mistakes. Section III contains 200 ready-to-use movement activities that can be easily implemented into the day. Most require no materials, and every activity includes a "Curriculum Connection," so readers can understand and clearly explain why the children aren't "just playing."

Rae Pica is an education consultant dedicated to the development and education of the whole child. A former adjunct instructor at the University of New Hampshire, she is the author of 20 books, including the Moving and Learning series, the textbook Experiences in Movement and Music, and What If Everybody Understood Child Development?: Straight Talk About Bettering Education and Children's Lives. A popular keynote speaker, Rae also offers online courses and has shared her expertise with such groups as the Sesame Street Research Department, the Head Start Bureau, Bright Horizons, the Centers for Disease Control, and schools, resource and referral agencies, and health departments throughout the country.