Wednesday, August 09, 2006
# 18 - Senior-worthyness
Question of the day: so what, if anything, makes a game "Senior-worthy"?Answer of the day: it depends.
Sooner or later, we all outgrow our bodies. It's a long process. We do it bit by bit (though bit-size may vary). We can never tell which bit's next. If we're lucky, we'll hardly notice the last bit that went missing.
When I made my selection of "Senior-worthy Games" for the Major Fun award, I chose board and party games for the Mildly Outgrown - games that didn't have a lot of really little pieces and small print; that didn't require very fast reflexes, or any significant use of short-term memory, or precision dexterity.
Since the games I chose were already Major Fun, regardless of their senior-worthiness, they reflected the most senior-worthy aspects of the award: games that are easy to learn, that can be played in maybe 10 minutes, or maybe all night. Pretty games - well-made, well-presented, feel good, look good, store easily. Games that are interesting - offering some new way of playing, of thinking, some unique challenge. And especially, being Major Fun games, games that make you laugh.
As to why I'm this whole Senior-Worthy Games thing? Because I want to be sure that noone I know has to spend their final days in a place where the only game around is BINGO.
As to what's next? I'm waiting to hear from you.
"Chuckles" writes:
Bernie: Love the idea! We, I believe, are as old as we think we are and do! I learned, as an undergrad at Fresno State in Rec. Admin., when I was the "Recreation Director" at Forest Grove Home for the Aged (4 hours per week!) that some people are young in their 70's-80's+ and others are old in their 20's, 30's, and 40's - it really is mostly attitude (or is that altitude - thinking, believing, and behaving with an "up" attitude or "down" attitude - it is OUR OWN choice!). One of my Profs. at Fresno was a woman named Joan Davis, who was a Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (TRS) that had worked/played with seniors during her career and she hated Bingo so much that if a student even mentioned it in any paper/test, etc., it was an automatic one-legged "A" = "F"! While I think that there is a place for Bingo - basically in Bingo Parlors - and it does foster some, although very little real, interaction, I also believe it is used far too much - it is mostly a diversion. Play and recreation (re-creation!) are not used appropriately when seen as diversional. (A former student of mine from Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, is a TRS [having completed the diploma program at Mount Royal College when I taught there] and he recently told me in an e-mail message that they call it Diversional Therapy over there!)
Well, I've got to get ready to take my grand-daughter and my daughter's boy-freind's two daughters to our local Family Aquatic Center, so I'll close for now. Keep up the good play! (To coin a phrase!)