Award-Winning Children’s Book Combines “Gamification” with
Important Life Lessons. The SMART Playbook: A ‘Must Have’ Activity Book to Teach Children the Art of
Social Graces
The newly published book, ‘The Smart Playbook: Game-Changing
Life Skills for a Modern World’ by Suzanne M. Wind, has become one of those
“must have” resources for parents to keep around the house to help them impart
to their kids the art of social graces.
Since its debut, the book is the proud recipient of ten
awards including a Mom’s Choice Awards® Gold, Creative Child Magazine 2014 Book
of The Year, USA Best Book Award, Academics’ Choice Award, Family Review Gold
Award, The Toy Man® “Mom-Approved Comme Il Faut” Award, The Toy Man® eChoice
Award, The Toy Man® Award of Excellence, The Toy Man® S.T.E.M Award, and The
Mr. Dad Seal of Approval.
Aimed at teaching children confidence, integrity and empathy
the book is chockfull of some awesome game-changing life skills that every
child needs to know so as to truly understand the rules and know how to
gracefully play the game of life in this modern world. Five of the SMART topics
covered in the book, and designed to help children succeed, include:
• Social Skill Basics - The principles of modern manners •
Mealtime Manners - A guide to mealtime etiquette • Art of Conversation -
Eloquent face-to-face conversational skills • Restaurant Behavior - The finer
points of restaurant conduct • Technology Talk - Internet safety and
responsible usage
“The ‘gamification’ methods included in The SMART Playbook
will help children ages 6-12 gain confidence, character, integrity and empathy
in face-to-face situations and technology usage,” said Ms. Wind, a mom of three,
who considers the book a “must have” for families.
As the creator of The SMART Playbook, Ms. Wind said the
activity book uses a handson approach with more than 100 games and challenges
to choose from. “The result: a happy and confident child thriving in a modern
world,” assured Suzanne – a woman with an impossible mission to present
families a simple and effective game plan to teach relevant life skills in a
modern world.
Arguing that the world is changing faster than ever before
has led Ms. Wind to believe parents and children are busier today than ever,
and technology has and will continue to present new challenges they must face.
“But with all the texting, emailing, and posting, are
children developing the social skills that will be required for lifelong
happiness, confidence and success?” she questioned, but added, “That’s where
The SMART Playbook comes into the picture.
Parents and educators have called the book the perfect affordable
solution to bring a little civility back to the 21st century.”
According to one reviewer, Suzanne has created a “fantastic,
fun and interactive” book that’s right for both children and parents. She
believes ‘The SMART Playbook is the perfect activity book, as it is designed to
lead them in a collaborative effort to bring manners to a new generation.
The book is available as one complete book or by topic only.
For more information, please visit www.thesmartplaybook.com. Also available for
purchase at Amazon.com and select retailers.
About the Author and Q&A
Suzanne M. Wind lives in CT with her husband and three kids.
Before kids, she was an international marketing executive in New York City.
With a multi-cultural background, she was raised in more than six countries
with four languages. Her career and living overseas taught her the importance
of knowing and using the common language of manners and social skills to being
your best. Today, she is a mom with a mission, inspired to communicate social
skills in a modern world to a new generation.
Who is your target audience?
The workbook is targeted towards children ages 6-12. It is
also a great resource & reference guide for teachers, homeschoolers, girl
scout/boy scouts, parents and grandparents.
What is the core message of The SMART playbook?
I want every child to understand as he/she gets older,
social skills and manners are the keys to having great friends, gaining respect
from adults and growing self-confidence. Playing it SMART with this simple
educational workbook wins you the Golden ticket to being your best in life.
What inspired The SMART Playbook?
As a mom of three kids (ages 11, 9 and 4), it quickly became
apparent that my kids were not born with the ability to act politely. The onus
is on me (and my husband) as their parents to teach them how to behave in
society. But schedules are busy – for myself and my kids. Learning social
skills, while vital, is not exactly on my kids’ top list of priorities. I often
felt overwhelmed-how do I teach my kids all those unwritten rules that make
such a BIG difference in raising happy and confident children?
Over the years, I have searched the library and web for
help. I was looking for an educational activity book for kids on the subject of
manners and social skills. (There are plenty of workbooks on reading, writing,
math but nothing on a subject that I felt really should go hand-in-hand with
these core subjects). I wanted to stop yelling at my kids (or at least cut down
on the yelling) and find an action plan to bring back the basics. It had to be
modern and relevant to today’s generation.
I became a mom on a possibly impossible mission: to create a
fun, practical and effective tool for developing manners and social skills –not
just for my kids, but for other families to use as well. My challenge was
two-fold: 1. Create a modern fun way to teach old-fashioned life skills to a
new generation, and 2. Make a plan where your child works independently to
learn skills and earn rewards.
As a family, we spent countless hours researching life
skills to tackle, developing games and challenges, drawing stick figures,
testing out fun jokes–all to find a relevant and effective game plan. It took
two years to develop it, but we finally created a book that my kids would use,
and that would really have an improvement in their current and future lives.
What is your favorite part of The SMART Playbook?
As a busy parent, I love that my kids can work on the book
independently, yet still have well-researched and practical guidance on a very
important topic for their development.
I also enjoy watching my kids play the challenges/games and
have “Aha” moments –those moment when they learn or confirm how to act in a new
situation whether it’s meeting a new teacher, realizing how to act on-line,
eating out at a fancy restaurant, answering a phone etc. And best of all, they
get to learn and apply their new skills through practice activities.
What dreams have your realized?
The dream of providing my kids (and other families) with a
fun and engaging game plan to decode the unwritten rules of social grace for a
modern world. Ultimately my mission of helping kids gain confidence, character,
integrity and empathy in face-to-face situations and technology usage.
I am also honored and humbled to be recognized with ten
awards for The SMART Playbook, including a recipient of the Mom’s Choice® Gold
award, Creative Child Magazine 2014 Book of the Year, The Toy Man® Award of
Excellence, The Toy Man® “Mom Approved -Comme Il Faut” award, The Toy Man®
S.T.E.M award, The Toy Man® eChoice™ award and The Mr. Dad Seal of Approval.
What do you hope people will take away from The SMART
Playbook?
Parents: While parents are responsible for the social
development of their children, helping their children develop manners and
social skills doesn’t have to be an expensive and daunting task. The SMART
Playbook is a fun affordable method to help kids develop integrity, empathy and
confidence in a modern world. Written in
a relatable style and chock full of games, kids stay motivated while developing
vital life skills.
Kids: Getting older is awesome, but there’s also more
expected of you. If you know the guidelines for interacting with people,
growing up is so much easier.
Why do you think your work is newsworthy?
Social skill development is an urgent need among younger
people today. While texting, email and
social media have changed the world in which we live, they have not replaced
the need for “in-person” manners and social skills. In the not too distant future, the younger
generation will be interviewing for college, meeting life-long friends, and
trying to find their first full time job.
It’s time to ask ourselves if our kids are on the right path.
To highlight the problem, several companies have felt
compelled to invest in social skill development programs for new hires. While the digital world has provided a
significant benefit to many people, it has also left them socially deficient,
in many ways. Unfortunately for many
young adults, these capabilities most easily become “second nature” if they are
learned at a much younger age.
The SMART Playbook takes a novel approach to solving this
problem. The vast majority of books and
programs on these topics are aimed at the parent. Yet, the problem is that children have many
more alternatives to interacting socially with others and developing sound
manners than parents had when they were young.
We can only help our kids improve their social skills by appealing to
them directly. And we can motivate them
to stay involved in their own development by giving them a tool they want to
use.
These goals are what The SMART Playbook is designed to
address. The book is written in a
relatable style (common to popular children’s books) and in a game-format. The parents are the coaches, and are still
very much in charge of the social development of their children. The kids are the players. It’s critical that the children are the
target audience; that they are the ones doing the work, and that they are fully
engaged in the process. Social skills
and manners bring time-tested benefits to those who have them. The approach of The SMART Playbook is modern
and new, and hopefully will make a positive impact to many children and their
families.
For further information, please contact:
Suzanne Wind Author Phone: 917-744-0777 Email:
thesmartplaybook@gmail.com
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