Play the addictive online version of the board game Bananagrams on Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, or as an iPhone app and you could win a copy of Bananagrams! The Official Book. Just get past the challenge of the week to be entered into a drawing for your own copy of the book.

This week’s challenge, running from January 18-22, is:
Win more than 10 live games per day

The contest runs through February 12. Each player can have up to 5 chances to win (one per day) so play every day to maximize your chances.

Jan 25th to Jan 29th – Beat 40 seconds in solo café mode
Feb 1st to Feb 5th – Win more than 12 live games per day
Feb 8th to Feb 12th – Beat 35 seconds in solo café mode

There are four different places to play. Enter the contest by playing on any of them:
Facebook
Myspace
Bebo
iPhone app

Do you have questions about the game? Visit the game FAQ for answers: http://www.largeanimal.com/faq/bananagrams

Some people think that wholesome playtime for kids is akin to buying organic–that in order to really “get the really good stuff” and provide your child with the best in playtime nutrients,  it’s going to cost you. On the contrary, there are many clever ways to keep your child’s mind and body active that use materials you may already have around the house (and if you don’t, can easily get at a 99-cent store)!

I recently asked Bobbi Conner, author of Unplugged Play: No Batteries. No Plugs. Pure Fun. to share a handful of fun ways to play on the cheap. She recommends going with what you already have (since you’re likely sitting on a treasure trove of toys for your young ones): Do you have a laundry basket? Muffin tin?  Paper bag? How about a box of pasta? Always keep safety in mind, and let the playtime begin:

#1. One Giant Floor Drawing

You will need: large sheets of drawing paper (or butcher block paper), invisible tape, and crayons. To do: Cover your kitchen floor with big sheets of paper. Use invisible tape to hold the paper in place. Challenge your child to use crayons to draw a HUGE drawing or create a “village”—with roads, houses, a river and trees.  When the village is drawn—add a few toy cars to drive through the town!

#2. Lunch Bag Puppet Show

You will need: paper lunch bags, nontoxic markers, scrap paper,  scissors, and glue. To do: For young preschoolers, parents can cut circles (for eyes) and any other desired facial features or accessories (noses, ears, hats, and so on). Glue or draw the parts of the puppet on the bag and then show your children how to manipulate the puppet by placing your hand inside the bag to make the puppet head move and “talk.” They can tell a story with their puppets, sing a song, or put on a puppet show.

#3. Kitchen Table Fort

You will need: several flat sheets, and some toys and props for pretend play. To do: Drape the sheets over the kitchen table or a series of chairs and let the kids haul their toys and books and pillows inside the homemade lair for hours of pretend play.  The game could involve a “camp-out” (maybe a parent can make s’mores in the kitchen!) or a pretend library or school.

#4. Macaroni Mix-Up

You will need: assorted uncooked pasta shapes like ziti, elbows, bow-tie; a  muffin tin; and a paper lunch bag.  To do: Pour ¼-cup of each pasta shape into the lunch bag and mix it up. Challenge your child to sit at the kitchen table and sort the pasta—all the elbows in one compartment of the muffin tin, all the ziti in another, bow-ties in a third, and so on. Preschoolers love to sort! Advanced version: Use tri-color pasta to practice color sorting.

#5. Coupons as Currency

You will need: an old wallet, coupons from the Sunday paper, an empty laundry basket, and canned or boxed foods from your kitchen or pantry. To do: Parents cut out the coupons and stuff them inside the wallet. Give your child a shopping cart (a.k.a. laundry basket) and line up the foods on the table or a low counter so he or she can pretend to be a shopper at the grocery store and “buy” groceries with coupons.

*And don’t forget, your local library is filled with lots of  free entertainment that won’t cost a dime! So whether you’re a parent or babysitter, bring on the next rainy day.

For more than 700 more play ideas for indoors and out, check out Bobbi Conner’s Unplugged Play!

Workman designer Mike Vago spent middle school study-hall periods mapping out elaborate miniature golf courses, thus giving birth years later to The Miniature Book of Miniature Golf. Here’s a brief interview with Mr. Vago.

Q: What’s the most difficult hole in the book?
A: Hole 6 is a hedge maze, so it’s intended to be done in 7 to 10 shots. It’s not a tricky shot in the classic sense, it’s just long and there’s no way to drive straight to the hole.

Q: Say a bookseller decides to take a copy of your book off the shelf and play it instead of doing returns. What’s a notable score?
A: As a former bookseller, I can say I’d never do such a thing, mostly because it would cut into my time spent reading X-Men comics on the job. But if one were to. . . Par for the course is 29, and if you can shoot under par, you may want to consider a career on the professional book-sized mini golf circuit.

Q: Any problems with gophers eating the book?
A: Nothing a little dynamite can’t solve.

Q: I understand that Tiger Woods requested that your book be included on the PGA Tour.
A: It is! Who would believe it? And to think I totally made that up.