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Joe L. Frost, the renowned scholar and educator who advocated for the importance of free outdoor play, playgrounds, and recess, died on February 17, 2020. Frost was a charter member of the editorial advisory board of the American Journal of Play. In his more than 50 years of research, including writing 20 books and multitudes of articles and reports, teaching, consulting, and service, he became one of play’s greatest champions.
Born in Parks, Arkansas, on March 25, 1933, Frost grew up […]

Continue Reading about Remembering Play Scholar and Advocate Joe L. Frost Published on:
April 28, 2022

By Adam Nedeff, Researcher for the National Archives of Game Show History
Stay up to date with the world of game shows and The Strong’s National Archives of Game Show History with this recurring blog. This month, learn about May’s lineup of music game shows and the history of this playful subgenre.
In the month of May, Fox is hoping game show fans will tune in for tunes. Starting May 23, the network’s Monday prime time schedule will be wall-to-wall musical […]

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April 25, 2022

Back in earliest months of the U.S. COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, you may have missed the flurry of board game articles all recommending the same game: Pandemic, the 2008 cooperative game where players race around a world map to cure four simultaneous infectious epidemics before the world is lost. Great minds think alike; The New Yorker, Wall Street Journal, Mashable, NPR, and more outlets raced to publish articles on the resonance of playing Pandemic in an actual pandemic. Most of […]

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April 21, 2022

In 1976, scholar Barbara Bader defined a picture book as “text, illustrations, total design; an item of manufacture and a commercial product; a social, cultural, historic document; and foremost, an experience for a [reader/beholder]. As an art form it hinges on the interdependence of pictures and words, on the simultaneous display of two facing pages, and on the drama of the turning page.” I am fascinated by these works of art. Picture books serve as visual and tactile experiences. Many […]

Continue Reading about From the Page to the Playroom Published on:
April 15, 2022

This month we opened our new maker space, Play Lab. It’s a bright, busy place, filled with equipment for assembling, building, crafting, cutting, designing, fashioning, gluing, hammering, programing, soldering, and weaving. Our public programming team and guest services staff will hold facilitated sessions where kids (and adults) can create. It’s hands-on fun!
For kids, making things is an essential type of play, one that teaches as it engages. Scholars note the benefits of construction play. Construction play trains spatial skills. It […]

Continue Reading about Making Space for Play Published on:
April 7, 2022

For as long as play has existed, humans have been making dolls in some form or another. The ancient Egyptians carved figures of their deities, Roman children had dolls of famous gladiators, and as time progressed, these artificial chums became more intricate and advanced. Even Thomas Edison would throw his hat into the ring of manufacturing dolls, though he’d have little success with that venture. Nevertheless, the industry of dolls and action figures would be significant for much of human […]

Continue Reading about Play Pals: Dolls, Action Figures, and More Published on:
March 31, 2022

By Adam Nedeff, Researcher for the National Archives of Game Show History
Stay up to date with the world of game shows and The Strong’s National Archives of Game Show History with this recurring blog. This month, learn about the return of ABC’s The Chase and the history of “beat the expert” games. (Bob Boden, one of the Archive’s cofounders, produced the original U.S. version of The Chase in 2014.)
The Chase is returning to ABC for a third season. Twenty episodes […]

Continue Reading about Game Show Updates: The Chase is Back On! Published on:
March 29, 2022

In a 2020 blog, I discussed how during the pandemic many players of Tabletop Roleplay Games (TTRPGs) turned to platforms online to continue their adventures. I wasn’t alone in turning to TTRPGs for entertainment while stuck at home because that year, National Toy Hall of Fame inductee Dungeons & Dragons saw sales jump 33%! That jump doesn’t even touch on the hundreds of indie TTRPGs that have been released through various crowdfunding sites in the last few years. With more […]

Continue Reading about Keeping the Adventure Fun for Everyone: Safety tools for Tabletop Roleplay Games Published on:
March 28, 2022

The first G.I. Joe action figure, initially named an “action soldier,” appeared in 1964. Even though the series was renamed the G.I. Joe Adventure Team in 1975 to downplay associations with the Vietnam War, for many kids Joe remained a soldier. The origins of the term “G.I.” have been debated but, during World War I, U.S. soldiers were referred to as “G.I.’s.” Cartoonist and draftee Dave Breger is credited with adding the “Joe” in his 1942 cartoon strip “G.I. Joe” […]

Continue Reading about A Real American Hero: Invest in G.I. Joe Published on:
March 10, 2022