Learn how rough-and-tumble play can nurture close connections, encourage resilience, and boost confidence with 45 illustrated activities to get you started. Every kid needs horseplay! Roughhousing is an essential part of childhood development but it is increasingly overshadowed by screens and structured activities. In Unplug and Play, a doctor and a child psychologist, both dads, introduce parents to the benefits of physical play for young children. Drawing from gymnastics, martial arts, ballet, team sports, and even animal behavior, the authors present fun full-contact activities for parents and children to enjoy together, including: Human Cannonball Magic Carpet Ride Steamroller Jousting Raucous Pillow Fight And more! With activities for everyone from toddlers to kids ages 12 and up, you ll build a foundation for a lifetime of enriching physical play. Previously published as The Art of Roughhousing, this updated edition incorporates new child development research and addresses the changing role of screen time.

About the Author
Anthony T. DeBenedet, M.D. is a practicing physician, behavioural-science enthusiast, and energetic dad. His interviews and writings on play, health, wellness, and behaviour have run in multiple major media outlets. He is the author of Playful Intelligence: The Power of Living Lightly in a Serious World (Santa Monica Press, 2018). DeBenedet lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Lawrence Cohen is a licensed psychologist, author, and consultant living in Portland, Oregon. Larry is the author of The Opposite of Worry, a book for parents about childhood anxiety and fears, and Playful Parenting, an award-winning book about nurturing close connections, solving behaviour problems, and encouraging children's confidence. He is also co-author, with Michael Thompson and Catherine O'Neill Grace, of Best Friends, Worst Enemies: Friendship, Popularity and Social Cruelty in the Lives of Boys and Girls, and Mom, They're Teasing Me: Helping Children Solve Social Problems. He specializes in children's play and play therapy.

Reviews
"An inspired defense of roughhousing! I guarantee that if you read just a few pages of this book, you'll be down on the floor wrestling and laughing with your children."-Michael Thompson, co-author of the national best seller Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys

"Two dads offer the perfect antidote to helicopter parenting."-Washington Post

"Enthusiastically recommended." Starred review-Library Journal



Book Information
ISBN 9781683693499
Author Anthony T. DeBenedet, M.D.
Format Hardback
Page Count 192
Imprint Quirk Books
Publisher Quirk Books