Designed To Play

During this unique moment in time, with the pandemic still looming, and racial reckoning in America, the importance and the role of play in designing experiences is an essential tool that enables us to collectively navigate ambiguity, build trust and re-imagine assorted legacy systems. In this class, students will explore the playful nature of creativity to help Playworks ensure schools and families have opportunities for safe and healthy play and design programming which builds equity, trust, and understanding for its players. Students will learn how the playful mind is essential to productive thinking and underlies the creativity required for the best ideas. In this course we are asking: How might we design play-based learning experiences easy enough for anyone, any school, any parent, or any kid to pick up or lead with no prior training? This class is for students of all experience levels; we will redefine play as we learn and develop skills to move from the abstract to the concrete -- with meaning, goals, and principles.