Introduction The ECRS Approach to Play "The unique framework of the ECRS approach to play and recreation." - Sy Kantor Games "A game is an artificial situation set up imaginatively and defined by rules which together with the prescribed roles, is accepted by the players." - Neva Boyd Bat the Balloon, Big Wind Blows, Come Along, Cultural Differences, Dzien Dobry, El Hombre, El Tigre y El Fusil, Elbow Tag, Face to Face, Guidelines for Leading Games, Hands Down Fifty-Four, Hot Potato, I'm Thinking of a Word That Rhymes With..., Kho, Lemonade, Magic Music, Musical Chairs, Name Ball, Name Six, Obaasan, Samurai, and Shishi, Peteca, Swat, Ti Li Cum, Up Jenkins, Jenkins Up, What Part Does Competition Play, Who Started the Motion, Wink Cultural Messages "Play activities serve two, apparently contradictory, objectives: (a) to enlist members' support for the culture by reenacting the values in play form, and (b) to provide participants with relief from the tensions built up day to day." - Sy Kantor Play Parties "Play parties are a unique blend of steps, movement and self-made music... a valuable dance form which requires no music except the singing of the dancers." - Bob and Dotti Siftar Swing on the Comer, Shoo Fly, Somebody Waiting, Napoleon, Alabama Girl, Great Big House, The Thief, Red River Valley, Simmons, Gustaf's Toast, Captain Jinks, Needle's Eye, Come, My Love, Circle Round the Zero, Bingo Dancing "A chance for people to come together in a spirit of joy and relaxation." - Lanie Melamed Ten All-Time Favorite ECRS Folk Dances, Leading Dances, Warm-Ups for Dancing, Carabamboli, Cotton-Eyed Joe, Jiffy Mixer, Greensleeves, Other Favorite Dances, Alunelul, Biserka, Chiotikos, Hora Aggadati, La Bastringue, Lerikos, New York, New York, Oslo Waltz, Salty Dog Rag, Sirtaki, Teton Mountain Stomp, Trugnala Rumjana, Tzadik Katamar, Ve David, Yedid Nefesh, Yugo, Chimes of Dunkirk, Southern Mountain Circle Dance, Square Dance Terms, Some Favorite Square Dances, Grapevine Twist, Birdie in the Cage, Forward Up Six Singing "Fun comes with the weaving of sound amidst the delight of security and growth." - Dotti Siftar Ho'ven, Ho'ven, Warm-Ups to Singing, Can You Dig that Crazy Gibberish?, I Had Little Overcoat, Peter and Paul, Take Time in Life, Songs for Group Singing, Come and Go with Me, White Coral Bells, I Can Feel the Sweet Winds, White Sand and Gray Sand Exploring Outdoors "Eddie and I went fishing a couple of times in the early morning, during the Summer School of 1986. ... I don't recall catching any fish. But that's all right. It's the process that's important." - Sioux Free Conversation with a Tree, Tissue Pressings, Nature Activities Oriented Toward Senses, Scavenger Hunt, Still-Watching, Unnatural Trail, Blind Walk, Writing A Cinquaine Poem Dramatics "Living temporarily inside the skin of another person can be a very freeing experience." - Jim Norris Informal Dramatics "Informal dramatics is concerned with individual growth and the group process.... The interest in playmaking is transferred from a slick end-product to the process by which ideas and thoughts are fused into action." - Lanie Melamed Forms That Lend Themselves To Informal Dramatics, Beginning Activities, This Is My Friend, Passing an Imaginary Object, Props, A-What, A-Where and A-Who, Charades Small Scenes "Therein lies the treasure: vignettes that stand alone due to the wholeness of scenes cut from plays of high quality." - Dotti Siftar Storytelling "We are all storytellers," and it's true. - Jay Goldspinner Continuous Story With Rhythm, Props, Passing Masks, Transforming Chairs, Name Story, As I Went Up the Apple Tree, Once Upon a Time There Were Three, Tell the Story of an Object, Short Folktale Puppetry "... as an art form for adults, as adult theater." - Hal Kantor Quicky Puppets, Papier Mache Puppets Crafts and Art "As in folk dancing and dramatics, individual growth is often stimulated by participation and interaction within the group." - Hal Kantor Black and White Shapes, Warm-ups in Crafts, Informal Art, Contour Drawing, Finger Painting, Print-Making, Weaving Special Populations "All this with respect and attention to the human being involved..." - Ruth Brauen Wheelchair Dancing, Captain Jinks, Circassian Circle, Doudlebska Polka, Gallopede, Marching Through Georgia, Mountain Square Dance, Oh Susannah, Texas Star, Programs For Special Populations, Additional Wheelchair Dances, Games in Wheelchairs Program Planning "It has been our ECRS philosophy that every program should have a plan. ... We have also stressed that "plans are made to be changed." Flexibility to change is an essential requirement of leaders." - Ruth Sherman Stages of Program Development, Evaluation, Social Interaction Scale, Guidelines for Evaluation of Recreation Leadership Dear Eddie ECRS: Past Present and Future Resources