What were the “Creative Games?”

I designed and constructed four “Creative Games” to go in Capital E for April and early May 2019 (which included school holidays). The four games were designed to encourage creative play and follow the theme of Joy.

Game 1: ‘Sense’able objects

A game for two participants. Players were instructed to use their senses (touch, smell, sight, sound) to try to guess what object the other player was holding. I made a barrier between the two players and used various techniques to obfuscate the senses. For example, only one finger through a sock could be used for touch. A variety of interesting objects were provided that require one or more senses to guess.

Game 2: Roll Goal

A game for one to many players. Players were instructed to construct interesting obstacles, place them on the ramp and then try to roll a ball past them to one of the goals at the bottom. The ramp was 1.8m long, constructed from plywood and had barriers on the sides and goals at the end. Obstacles were constructed from card, cardboard and taped to the ramp.

Watch the video below to see it in action.

Game 3: Shadow Play

A simple guessing game involving shadow outlines. A box with a light on one side and whiteboard on bottom. Players were instructed to challenge each other by placing an object/s on the whiteboard, tracing the shadow and getting the other player to guess what was in the scene.

Game 4: Wheel of Drawing

A game for one or more players. Spin the wheel and follow the instructions to draw the object using challenging and interesting drawing techniques such as: drawing without looking up or drawing without taking your pencil off the paper.

How did it go?

The Creative Games were well received at Capital E. Roll Goal was the most popular game because the simple creative mechanic made it ideal for a wide range of ages.

Acknowledgements

This project was funded by Capital E. Thanks to the wonderful staff there for all your assistance and expertise running this project. A special thanks to Karen Carey for encouraging me to bring something to Capital E and to Halo Collins for all the help and advice setting it up and keeping an eye on it. Thanks to Julian Wicky for helping me out with the build and letting me use your garage and borrow your tools.