Playfest was a 2-day virtual conference that included short talks from interesting people, "hands on" workshops, and discussion groups. In one of the promotions for the conference it said: "The goal is to provide a joyful, whimsical experience, with a few surprises, and lots of new people and ideas." It is difficult to describe the conference since it was so varied to give participants a chance to explore new topics and ideas. Participants and speakers tuned into PLAYfest from around the world. There were people from New York, India, England, South Africa, etc.
Speakers covered many different topics including: children's museums, Wakanheza, zoom movies, LEGOs, robotics, OK GO music group, marine biology, data analysis, history of children's toys, deaf theater, sleep science, etc.
Here are some of the takeaways from the speakers.
Sarah Fornace: Manual Cinema Manual Cinema
A company based out of Chicago makes live zoom silent films, with props made of paper. When making online live movies think about perspective, scale, and play with camera angles and props to change perspectives and create different movie shots. Magic can happen (even live magic!) without expensive materials.
Jess Turgeon:
Wahkanza (we have talked about this in SPPL but it is a good reminder). Joy and learning can't happen if parents feel judged and like they don't have any power. Example if a child is having a tantrum don't have staff just stand nearby. If they do, they become part of the group of people staring at the family making the parent feel judged and uncomfortable. Empathize, say things like "This happens all the time" or find ways to help the parent feel that they are not a bad parent for their child having a tantrum. Expectations about being a parent in a public place and 'controlling' their children are unrealistic. Keep the basics of Wakanheza in mind at all times; joy can't happen when parents feel judged and if we can help step in before caregivers "lose their power," we can create more peaceful, welcoming communities.
John Goodwin: LEGO Foundation: The LEGO Foundation: Frontpage
LEGO Foundation: 6-piece LEGO build-a-duck challenge Build a Duck – LEGO Engineering
Give everyone the same 6 LEGO pieces and have everyone build a duck. They will be so different and the challenge is pretty stress free. This was partly to show how everyone has a different perspective. This could be a fun icebreaker in future meetings.
John Goodwin from the LEGO Foundation also talked about the importance of social-emotional learning and the characteristics of playful learning: joyful, socially interactive, actively engaging, iterative, and meaningful. Children learn through playing, and from 2020, we have learned we need to be agile--and not to have prefixed ideas in our minds but be willing to have learning opportunities in any environment. The presentation, in summation: 1- there is a need for us to continue to think in an agile way, 2- continue to bring creativity into learning opportunities, 3- continued focus on social-emotional learning--prior to covid, there was too much focus on regurgitation of knowledge. There are a lot of different activities where children can learn through playing at home that are posted on the LEGO website here: Fun learning activities & educational activities for kids - Playlist (legofoundation.com)
Hardware Hacker-Robotics (a self-taught individual who "made things do what they weren't designed to do originally"): intentionally making imperfect robots/creations takes a lot of pressure off kids to create their own masterpieces. It makes them say "I can do that!" and encourages creativity. The gist was that joy can be brought into unexpected places. Imperfection brings joy; it is an incredible tool and a wonderful hook for kids to go on and improve what you have made.
Band: OK Go
OK Go Soundbox is a collaboration between the Playful Learning Lab at St. Thomas and the band OK Go. On the OK Go Sandbox Website, they have lesson plans and videos that show all the math and science and creativity that went into creating the OK Go music videos that are so popular on YouTube. There is also an option for anyone to submit artwork or music that will become part of OK Go's new music video. More information here: OK Go Sandbox
George Matsumoto: https://www.go-bgc.org/outreach/adopt-a-float
GO-BGC is looking for teachers and classrooms to partner with them by adopting a float. The floats are devices that will be shipped throughout the world's oceans. Floats are devices that collect data about oceans and climates and sends the data to be collected. The classrooms can name the float and decorate it. It's all free and they will come to your classroom and explain how it works. All the data is public. Adopt-a-Float | GO-BGC (go-bgc.org)
Jer Thorp: Living in Data | jerthorp
The question was raised: "are we being too polite with data?" The instructor talked about "data performance" -- how it humanized statistics and allowed for people to use their own experience as an instrument to read data. Some examples: piles of rice were used to represent all people born in the U.S. today as well as all people who will die in the U.S. today. Another example is a map of a city in which kids were instructed to circle "safe places." A redlining map was then placed over that map, which provoked conversation and learning. It ended up being more engaging, participatory, place and play-based, and got people (kids) to pay attention to data who wouldn't normally.
Sleep Science: How we sleep has changed dramatically in the last 100 years with changes in technology (electric lighting, alarm clocks). We used to go to sleep when we were tired and wake up when we naturally woke up. This new sleep situation causes a lot of health problems including anxiety and depression. Also, in this sleep science presentation they discussed Nightmares. Nightmares can be useful. They are a way for the brain to rehearse stressful/dangerous situations. "When’s the last time you ran away from a predator? Still, it’s an important survival skill, and your brain wants make sure the neural circuits are practiced and prepared."
Godwin Morris, Peter Hoh: In the News (dazzlingdiscoveries.com)
You can do a lot with paper, scissors, and tape/glue. Using basic shapes you can build toys, games, whatever you want. Here is link to how to make a roller coaster with newspaper: D.I.Y Roller Coaster Activity - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
A big takeaway from this workshop was that it is best to spend most of the instruction time (with kids especially) on the fundamentals. How to make the basic shapes. Then let them explore. Most of the cases of kids saying, " I don't want to do that" really means " I don't know how to do that". Focusing on the basics helps with that issue and then give very little direction after the fundamentals allows kids to be the most creative. You don't need expensive materials to play.
Shine a Light Then Share it
A workshop in which different light sources were shone on objects causing interesting shadows to be cast. Participants were prompted to manipulate the lights/objects however they want and to draw the image on paper. The gist of this workshop was that so much is going on in the brain when we are playful and including the five characteristics--this activity involves creative thinking, perspective taking, cognitive flexibility, tolerance for ambiguity, iteration, and tinkering mindset. There is an opportunity for adults: explain after, not before, to avoid limiting exploration. Children do influence adult flexibility and persist less when adults take over. They are not willing to keep trying if they know you can bail them out. Most important: most times we think it's just play, but all the functions of it are so important to illustrate and document the value it brings--the neuroscience behind it.
This workshop introduced Club for The Future, a space mail program in which children are encouraged to draw or write their vision for why earth needs space, and mail in a post card with their return address. Club for the Future then launches it on a rocket, sends it to space, and then returns it! Over 50 thousand cards were sent during the last program. Club for the Future is a nonprofit founded by Blue Origin, whose mission is to imagine the future of life in space to benefit earth and to inspire youth to explore STEM careers. The overall goal being engaging kids by inspiring them to dream and learn more about space/STEM. www.clubforfuture.org
Shawna Young: Scratch Foundation: Scratch Foundation
This presentation was pretty short, but Scratch is a tool to teach kids programming. The Scratch Jr app is frequently used in classrooms. The Scratch Foundation is launching new software that looks to be a mix between programming and the fun snapchat video filters (ex: giving someone cat ears). More information here: Scratch Foundation
--Aura S. and Andrea R.
