Eva's Bookshelf: Winners, Losers, and How You Play the Game

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As fall begins so do fall sports! These seasonal events provide many opportunities to introduce sport-related vocabulary and concepts as well as engage in conversations about various athletic  themes. There's much to talk about including winning versus losing, coping with disappointment, good sportsmanship, practicing hard and working as a team. Rally your home team for these good reads. 

The setup: Each page in these board books contain one photograph with a single word or phrase on it. For this age group focus on the simple object words (ball, helmet, bat) and simple actions (run, catch, throw). 

Why it works: By introducing new words you are building and broadening your child’s vocabulary. This is important because it will aid them in understanding the words and eventually saying them as speech develops. 

Keep it going: As your child gets older and shows interest in a particular sport you can introduce more advanced words and phrases. This publisher also has books on other sports including soccer and basketball. There are many other children’s “first words” dictionary board books to explore that have sections related to sports too.

The setup: Liam loves playing games with his father as long as he wins but when he loses he behaves poorly. This book addresses the difficult emotions experienced by kids when they lose and offers acceptable ways to help them express their actions and words. 

Why it works: By teaching children words for their feelings and how to react appropriately you are helping them regulate their emotions to eventually be able to apply this skill independently.

Keep it going: Model and practice by offering the appropriate words and behaviors to use in both scenarios of winning and losing a game during role play or when it naturally occurs. Board games offer plenty of teaching opportunities for supporting these skills. 

The setup: Franklin and his teammates love soccer but they each have their own strengths and weaknesses. They may not win the game but did they have fun? This book addresses practicing hard and working together as a team. Help your child identify what he or she is good at and what skill could be improved with practice.
 

Why it works: Kids can improve their early critical thinking skills, specifically in the areas of problem recognition and problem solving. Adults can support these skills by helping children identify problems, brainstorm solutions, select a solution and try it out then evaluate whether it worked.

Keep it going: Try playing a cooperative game to work on these skills. This type of game encourages players to work together as a team instead of competition among individual players. 

The setup: Mia quits playing soccer because she didn’t score a goal and her team didn’t win. The next day her team doesn’t want her to play until she learns to lose gracefully. This book offers a great opportunity to talk about the social ramification of quitting.  

Why it works: Children can develop social cognition skills by understanding that their behaviors affect others. Learning socially acceptable behaviors and the appropriate language to use in difficult situations is vital to kids being perceived as socially competent.   

Keep it going: Take turns role playing different characters in the book and talk about their perspective on the situation.   

The setup: Sally dislikes losing and because of her actions her classmates call her “Sally Sore Loser” and they don’t want to play with her anymore. Her teacher and her mother help Sally learn the rules of being a good sport and she shows her friends she can still have fun even if she doesn't win. 

Why it works: This book provides an extensive and informative ‘Note to Parents’ with tips on the addressing the following topics: importance of being a good sport, modeling good sportsmanship, and teaching children to be good winners and good losers. 

Keep it going: Talk with your child about using self-talk strategies such as deep breathes to calm down and using a motto such as the one in the book “I’ve won if I had fun.”

"Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns About Sportsmanship: Winning Isn’t Everything" by Howard Binkow 

The setup: Howard likes winning and he has to be the best at everything. When Howard displays poor behavior and makes poor choices his coach takes him out of a game. While being benched Howard discovers how badly he was behaving. Howard gets put back in the game and this second chance brings about some positive changes.      
  

Why it works: This book provides ‘Suggestions for Lessons and Reflections’ on these topics: To Be The Best, Team Sports and Sportsmanship.  

Keep it going: Visit the website www.wedolisten.org and print lessons and posters from this book. You can also enjoy free animated books, games, and songs. 


Editor's Note: Hey, fans of "Eva's Bookshelf"! We'd love to hear your feedback on this regular feature of our newsletter. Please post your thoughts and suggestions in the Comments section below!