A resource for K-12 physical education teachers, recreation leaders, and youth leaders. A supplemental text for methods courses focused on teaching games.

The joy of learning has been driven underground and with it much of the pleasure of teaching...Junkyard Sports brings them to the surface again.

-Herb Kohl
Author of 36 Children

Bernie DeKoven continues to provide mankind with ideas to have fun. He is a master at stimulating the creativity and imagination in all of us. This inventive, clever, and brilliant contribution is his latest to making our lives more fun. It's a must read for every recreation leader and parent!

-Jonathan Korfhage
Superintendent of Parks & Recreation in Foster City, California and a past president of the National Park & Recreation Association

I think DeKoven is a modern day alchemist. In this book, he magically shows readers how to turn a junkyard into gold mine. What a joyful world this would be if we all read this book and followed his advice.

-Dr. Allen Klein
Author of The Healing Power of Humor and The Courage to Laugh

Bernie DeKoven is serious about having fun and about helping others have fun, too. He has been reinventing sports for more than 30 years, has designed curriculums with more than 1,000 children's games, and has developed the training program for the New Games Foundation. The concept of New Games has had a worldwide effect on physical education and recreation. Along the way he designed and led an event for 250,000 people for the Philadelphia Bicentennial celebration, where he introduced Really Big Pick-Up Sticks (16 feet long) and Big, Big Box Blocks.

DeKoven, who has an MA in theater from Villanova University, has invented almost every kind of game-educational, entertainment, digital, physical, social, mental-for companies such as Mattel Toys and the Children's Television Workshop. He is a lifetime member of the Association for the Study of Play. To contact DeKoven about workshops (which are guaranteed to be instructive, creative, and above all, fun), e-mail DeKoven at [email protected].

Bob Gregson is an artist who combines art and play. For over 30 years, Gregson has organized innovative events that encourage collective creativity for people of all ages. His large-scale public celebrations bring diverse communities together with such events as the Special Olympics World Games, First Night, and OpSail. Gregson received his master of fine arts degree from the Art Institute of Chicago and has worked for museums and nonprofit art organizations. He is currently the creative director for the State of Connecticut Tourism Division. As an artist he uses architectural elements, photography, and community planning to design projects that invite an interactive dialogue. His first meeting with Bernie DeKoven in the 1970s opened new creative vistas resulting in a citywide Play Day attracting 10,000 playful participants in Hartford, Connecticut. He is the author and illustrator of several popular games books for teachers-linking arts, games, and education in unique relationships.

Idea Finder
Preface
Acknowledgments

Part I. Introducing and Implementing Junkyard Sports

Chapter 1. Introducing Junkyard Sports
Concept and Purpose of Junkyard Sports
Involvement
Diversity
Safety
Creativity
Slanted High Bar Principle
Sports for the Fun of It

Chapter 2. Creating a Junkyard Sport
People
Place
Junk
Games
Beach Basket Soccer

Chapter 3. Coaching Junkyard Sports
Demonstration Game
Invention
Testing
Sharing
Judging
The Junkyard Sports Community
The Junkmasters' Guild
Going Public
The Junkyard Sports League

Part II. The Junkmasters' Guide

Chapter 4. Junkyard Soccer

Chapter 5. Junkyard Football

Chapter 6. Junkyard Basketball

Chapter 7. Junkyard Baseball

Chapter 8. Junkyard Hockey

Chapter 9. Junkyard Volleyball

Where to go for more information