Our local kids events have some interesting challenges, not the least of which is that we never know how many kids (and adults) will come, nor the ages of those kids. As such, the agenda is very flexible. Yesterday, we had the additional challenge of a new facility, which turned out not to work very well, especially because we had a record turnout of 28 folks (which was both good and bad). Next year we’ll need to find a new place to hold this event.

Here was the planned agenda:

9:00   Welcome and introductions, playing game. What’s your favorite game? What makes a game?
10:15  SNACK BREAK
10:45  Game jam challenge  (designing a game with supplied materials and constraints)
NOON  LUNCH
1:00   Design a game (You choose from options of computer games, board games, card games, outside games, or something else.)
2:00   SNACK BREAK
2:15   Design a game (cont.)
3:30  Share our games
3:45   Wrap up

Beginning with playing games was great. It’s always hard to get kids going on stuff, especially with a mix of ages and kids who don’t know each other. Having a variety of games laid out on the tables was a good way to begin and also provided a foundation for the discussion of “what makes a game?” The favorite games were Pictionary Junior and Battleship. There was also one kid who spent much of the day refining his chess game with Brad as a partner. It was also fun to watch kids make up their own variations on these games, especially adapting for different age levels.

This was also a good example of the “shared purpose” value in Connected Learning. Kids had the shared purpose of figuring out how to play a game, and this provided an opportunity to make new friends, get comfortable, and accomplish something together. From that, the whole day flowed.

Next we talked about what makes a game. This worked well as a guided discussion, and everyone participated. I wrote the components of a game up on the board and saw later that one child had dutifully copied down the same. Something that one kid insisted on for every question I asked was that games had to be “FUN!” Good point to remember.

After that, I’d planned to do a “hack tic-tac-toe” activity, but because of time and the challenge of having some very young kids that didn’t know tic-tac-toe, I decided to skip that activity. (Interestingly, later when I found the kids outside playing a spontaneous game of duck-duck-goose, we “hacked” that instead.)

Then we moved on to the best activity of the day, in which kids got into groups and designed their own games using a set of supplied materials. We supplied: two dice, four marbles, a piece of string, four paper cups, a bunch of cork “game pieces” of varying sizes, colored paper cards, round colored stickers, and a piece of posterboard. In addition, kids could use any of the crayons, colored pencils, markers, tape, glue, scissors, etc. that were there.

Kids were very creative with this activity. Some made board games with themes of natural disasters and buildings (a very rough take-off on Monopoly, but unrecognizably so). One group made a game that involved rolling marbles down a crack in the patio. Another designed a game that involved guessing which cup had a marble under it. Not all the games were finished due to facility issues, but the design process was successful, and lots of iteration happened.

In the afternoon, we had fewer kids; some had been there in the morning, and others were new. For the first time at this event, we had brought computers and had planned to do Minecraft, Flappy Bird at Code.org, and a few other things. There was one older kid who knew Minecraft so he worked with some others on that.

The others had a choice of playing more games, working on the game they were designing, working on one of the other computers, or finding something else to do.

What went especially well this year was marketing (we reached several new families including several who didn’t attend the accompanying adult event), the game jam in general, and the use of computers.

In terms of what I would do differently next time, I would like to have seen more of kids playing each other’s games followed by more iteration. (Logistical challenges made this difficult.)

I’m also thinking that next year we might do separate morning and afternoon sessions with the same activities. That way kids who only came to one half of the other would still have the opportunity to do the “best” activities. And kids who stay the whole day could either extend what they were doing or do other optional activities.

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For this year’s kids maker day, we’re going to try a game jam. Here is the rough agenda:

9:00   Welcome and introductions, playing game. What’s your favorite game? What makes a game?
10:15  SNACK BREAK
10:45  Game jam challenge  (designing a game with supplied materials and constraints)
NOON  LUNCH
1:00   Design a game (You choose from options of computer games, board games, card games, outside games, or something else.)
2:00   SNACK BREAK
2:15   Design a game (cont.)
3:30  Share our games
3:45   Wrap up

As you might remember from past years, we never know how many kids we’ll get or what ages they’ll be. In the past, we’ve had around 15-20 kids, aged 2 to 85.

My plan is to start with a bunch of games out everywhere, inviting kids to play with whatever they want. This will then lead into a discussion about favorite games, what makes a good game, and what a game is (hopefully leading to things like things like goals, rules/constraints, components, core mechanics, and spaces.)

Then we’ll have a structured game jam, where kids get in small groups (3-4) and are given specific materials and constraints, and told to make a game with the above elements. (I haven’t decided on the specifics of this challenge, nor on whether to require them to write out the rules.) Then we’ll play each other’s games and discuss. (I’m leaning against a more formal evaluation.)

In the afternoon, kids will be invited to design another game, but this time with no constraints. It could be a computer game, a board game, a card game, an outdoors game or something else. (I’m not quite sure the computer game thing is going to work because of time/resource constraints, but I’m willing to try it if the kids want.)

Any comments? I’d love to hear them.

As I’ve worked on this, I drew on the very helpful videos of Kevin Hodgson and Matthew Farber, which are posted below.

Other helpful resources are this Game Jam Guide from ??.

Stay tuned for more on this project as it develops.

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I’m in the midst of writing a grant for a new project that I’m really excited about. It’s for a local, cross-generational maker project based at our library.

Here’s a brief description:

Let’s Make: Creativity in a Box!

The goal of this project is to develop a series of “maker” activities and events that empower learners to be at the center of their own learning and to develop critical thinking, collaboration, communication, design thinking, self-direction, and academic mindset skills.

Funds will be used to develop a series of maker activities; to purchase maker supplies; to host a series of maker day events with partners; to develop maker activity boxes that can be checked out; and to create and host an online collection of maker activities on a community collaboration site.

Community members will benefit through the application of these skills to a variety of academic and professional pursuits, as well as the fostering of a cross-generational learning community.

I couldn’t be more excited. A few things I really love about this project are that it is local (a goal of mine has been to do some work like this in my own area, instead of having to fly somewhere to do it); it invites folks of all ages to participate; and I think it is sustainable.

At the core of this project are a series of “creativity in a box” maker kits that can be checked out from the library. These could include things like paper circuitry, windowsill gardens, digital movie making, brush bots, and more — with all the materials included.

This will be supplemented by a series of face-to-face workshops, some at schools and others at the library and with other community partners. The project will also have an online community component that anyone can participate in free of charge.

I hope this project will be a launching pad for other similar work. I’ll share more as it develops.

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We had kids from ages 2 to 80 participate. (A couple adults said that building planes seemed like more fun that listening to lectures in the adult portion of the program.

We started the day with building paper airplanes. Most kids started with designs they were already familiar with and then drifted into the books and printouts that we’d laid around the tables for more exotic designs. After making their planes, we went outside for flight tests, which led to testing, redesign, iteration, and more testing. We had contests for the longest distance flight, the longest time in the air, the smallest plane, and the most visually attractive.

After that, we went on to make balsa wood gliders. This was a favorite activity of many of when we were young, and the kids really loved it.

After that, we shifted gears to build marble mazes. The kids really liked last year’s cardboard challenge, and this was a variation on that. I had deliberated beforehand whether to make this a contest of sorts, but ultimately left it more open-ended.

The kids wanted to form their own groups to do this and surprised us by dividing into just two groups — boys and girls. It was interesting to watch how the two groups worked with the boys ultimately splintering into several groups (and a few working by themselves) and the girls really bonding as a team and coming up with something quite complicated. Several of the kids were so absorbed in the work that they went right through lunch.

After lunch came the favorite activity of the day — stomp rockets. These were built with 2-liter pop bottles, a length of bicycle tubing, a piece of PVC tubing, and a paper rocket. One of the highlights was when a couple girls launched their rocket, not once but twice, onto the roof of the building. It was also a revelation that stomping harder wasn’t necessarily better after a couple adults stomped so hard that they broke the bottles.

The day ended with a kid-suggested cooking activity. We made chocolate and caramel sauces and dipped fruit in them. (With the addition of this and a surprise visit from Smokey the Bear, we dropped the planned activities of hovercrafts, which were underwhelming in our pre-event testing, and kites, which we’ll save for another day.)

I’m already thinking about what we’ll do next year. Textiles? Cooking? Painting? There are so many choices.

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It’s that time of year again, the confluence of CLMOOC with my planning for our annual kids maker day. (Our maker day is all-ages — we’ve had 2 year olds to adults — and has no technology involved.)

This year’s maker day is centered on flight. A tentative agenda is below.

There is one diversion from flight though, which is a marble challenge (though I do expect we’ll see some marbles in flight as well). This is something I’ve wanted to do for a while now, and we’ve had great fun (as well as design thinking and amazing learning) in past years with the Marshmallow Challenge and the Cardboard Challenge.

This week in CLMOOC, we’re designing games, and so I’ve been thinking about the marble challenge in this context. I have several ideas, and this is really a work in process, so I’d welcome suggestions. My general thought is to have some kind of specific timed challenge and then to move towards something more open-ended.

My general thought is to have students build some kind of cardboard pathway (maze? roller coaster? Rube Goldberg contraption?) under specific constraints and with a goal in mind.

Possible constraints: Fixed time to design and build; Set materials; Must fit within a given area (e.g. 4′ x 4′).

Possible goals: Get the marble to land in a designated area (4″ square); Cover the longest track possible (with no touching of the marble after the initial release); Stay in motion for the longest time (with no touching of the marble after the initial release).

My experience is that after going through a design challenge like this, youth learn a lot, and then immediately want to do it again, but with their own rules/constraints/goals. That’s the open-ended part of the activity.

I’d love to hear your ideas for other constraints, goals, etc.

As it relates to CLMOOC, is this a “game?” I think it is. Here are some ways I’ve thought about game elements for this:

Rules – Playing within the constraints of this challenge are the rules. (And these will be tinkered with and changed in stage 2.)

Actions – Players will build, test, and iterate.

Win – The goals will set up the “win” conditions. And again these will evolve in stage 2

The marble challenge also supports several Connected Learning principles: peer-supported (this will be done in small groups and debrief will be with the whole group), production-centered, and shared purpose. I think it also supports the values of equity, social connection, and full participation. The cross-age participation of the project also amplifies connected learning.

I’m excited to try this out and am appreciative for any suggestions you have!

Tentative Agenda

Theme: “Taking Flight!”

8:45 a.m. Welcome and Introductions
9:00 Paper airplanes (60 min.)
10:00 BREAK – with families
10:30 Tabletop hover crafts (30 min.)
11:00 Marble challenge (60 min.)
12:00 BUFFET LUNCH ON SITE – with families
1:00 Stomp rockets (60 min.)
2:00 BREAK – with families
2:30 Kites – weather permitting (60 min.)
3:30  Wrap-Up

Marble challenge links

(Send any more you have, and I’ll add to the list.)

http://www.sciencebuddies.org/blog/2013/04/girls-explore-engineering-marble-run-challenge.php

http://www.homeschoolcreations.net/2013/04/marble-track-instant-challenge-logic-for-kids/

http://www.centexeweek.org/activities/marble-rollercoaster

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When we hold this annual local event, we never know how many kids will come or what ages they will be. This year we started with about 10 kids. The youngest was 4 months (!….accompanied by a parent and several older siblings) and the oldest was 10. Over the course of the day, some of the younger kids left and others joined in.

We began with making name tags and having the kids introduce themselves to each other and then to the group. The kids typically hate having to do “public” introductions, and this year was no exception. Still, I think that doing this has long term value, and I even think it helped build relationships for the rest of the day. (Several of the kids didn’t know each other before.)

Then we moved on to the Marshmallow Challenge. I’d have to say this was the highlight of the day. Kids just loved it! Several adults even participated, and one of my favorite parts was when a parent has built a tower and as a child approached, she shouted, “Don’t bump it!”

We teamed kids in groups of 2 or 3, trying to mix ages and separate siblings and friends where it made sense. Every team who participated built a successful tower, and we learned lesson about collaboration, play, trying different things, iteration, and design under constraints.

After one round of the building with the formal rules, the kids wanted to do another round with new rules. These are the revised rules we came up with as a group:

Again, each group was successful in building a tower; some were taller than the previous round and some shorter. I think kids could have gone on with this all day, but other activities were calling!

We’d planned to do storytelling next, but altered our plans. At that point in the day, about half of the kids seemed too young to do the activity we’d planned, and several others had said they’d leave if we did storytelling. I hate to give in to demands and really wanted to do storytelling, but also wanted to have a successful day. I put it aside for the moment and hoped we’d return to it later (which we didn’t…this was one of the “failures” of the day. Comments? Advice?)

Instead, we went to the Cardboard Challenge. I’d planned for this to be one of the optional activities in the afternoon, but in looking at the group, I knew that everyone would want to do it. We have very little guidance other than “build something with cardboard,” and all the kids immediately came up with something they wanted to build. We ended up with a monster mask, a cat play house, a puppy house, an egg money collection box, a storage box, a ship, and a giant turtle.

After lunch, a few middle school students came in to teach us how to make duct tape wallets. What fun! The main instructor for this was a natural teacher/mentor. He gave just enough instructions and was so patient with even the littlest kids. He was flexible and acknowledged when someone came up with a good alternative way to do something. Just what you want in a teacher! Everyone ended up with wallets to take home.

Next up was jewelry making. While there were several options, the kids gravitated to the rainbow loom work with colored rubber bands. We didn’t buy the actual plastic loom, because we’d found these instructions for weaving with your fingers. This was a great activity. I think it worked particularly well with smaller kids (down to 4) and with kids who sometimes had a hard time focusing or persisting otherwise. There are some lessons there, I think.

We wrapped the day up with cooking. I’ve always wanted to do this, and when our facility added a kitchen this year, I was thrilled. We had a six year old teach us how to make biscuits, and he was awesome! So were the biscuits. It was fun for me to just hang back in the background and watch (and worry about the oven…nothing bad happened, of course). Afterwards, we ate biscuits with homemade jam and shared the leftovers with the adults. (There was a parallel adult-focused event taking place in the same building.)

Overall, it was a great day. Here are some observations and thoughts for next year:

• Making is great.
• Less structure and more flexibility is better.
• Youth-led activities are awesome. (We brainstormed more of these for next year.)
• I need to think more about how to bring in more storytelling and/or writing next year. (We’ve done DS106 Daily Create-style photo challenges in the past, and those were very popular, but I wanted to try something different.)

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This was a part of our local Heritage Days event, for which I’ve been helping coordinate a kids’ activity day for a few years.

The day was a great success. We had over twice the attendance we’ve had in past years (and this is in an extremely rural area), and the kids had a great time, as did Brad and I.

In part, I’d attribute the success to an open approach of letting kids decide what approach they wanted to take for each maker project (or even to decide to do other projects), being flexible about the schedule, allowing kids to work on things of their choice, and emphasizing self-directed learning and fun over everything else.

Lessons learned:

• Making is great! It’s educational and fun, and something a lot of kids don’t get to do enough of. (In the past, we’d done more presentations. None of those this year, and no one missed them.)
• Our general approach of loose, open, flexible, and let the kids guide things was perfect!
• Mixed ages work great. We asked for kids older than 4 (but had a couple younger) and set no upper age limit. We had kids from 2-19, and it worked great.
• We were happy to partner with an existing event. This was good for our event and the partner event and worked well for parents too.
• Market, market, market. You have to get the word out to attract people. Having done this for a few consecutive years helped too.

Planned activity list:

• Welcome and Introductions
• Make your name tag
• Make photos * Bring your own camera or use one of ours! (See notes on the photo challenge from last year here; this was the only activity from a previous year that we repeated. We were glad we did because one kid said “I begged to come just so I could do this!”)
• BREAK
• Make a mask
• Yoga for kids
• LUNCH ON SITE
• Cardboard turtle races
• Make a snack (smoothies)
• BREAK
• Make a puppet
• Make jewelry
• Wrap-Up

Supply list:

(Note: I don’t think I spent $25 on this outside of stuff I already had.)

• paper plates
• paper bags
• cardboard
• paper
• egg cartons
• cardboard tubes
• tongue depressors/popsicle sticks
• toothpicks
• lots of crayons, markers, colored pencils, pencils
• scissors
• glue
• glitter
• stretchy cord
• beads
• buttons
• old socks
• scraps of old fabric
• blenders
• smoothie makings (frozen and fresh fruit, yogurt, milk, juice, water, wheat germ, flax)
• spoons
• cups
• library books for inspiration

Anecdotes:

• Models – At the beginning, we showed kids all the supplies we had and told them what we’d be doing. We also put out a bunch of books with ideas of what kinds of things (masks, puppets, jewelry) they might make. We didn’t supply any step-by-step instructions. From there, kids took it and ran. They came up with things we’d never have thought of.
• Photo challenge – Kids just loved this. This year we also let them write their own challenges and share them, which was fun.
• Nothing we planned – One kid made a diorama of an Indian village. This was nothing we’d planned, mentioned, or even contemplated someone making.

  

• Peer mentoring – With kids of all ages, peer mentoring was natural,and we gave no instructions or guidance on this. There was one college-aged youth who came ostensibly to oversee her younger siblings. She started the day reading in the corner. By the end of the day, she was teaching all of us how to make sock puppets and jewelry.
• Design – This is a sketch of a marionette puppet plan. Design thinking was happening even though we didn’t prompt it.
  

 Pictures:

All photos in this post copyrighted “All rights reserved.”

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