Caine’s Arcade Cardboard Challenge 2012

On Friday morning the kids and I went along to fab little event that was part of Caine’s Arcade Cardboard Challenge from the Imagination Foundation.  It was a free event and part of a worldwide day where kids and adults alike where encouraged to build constructions using cardboard, recycled materials, and imagination.

This is a 11 minute video {click through here if you are reading in email to see the video} but it is worth every minute to watch. I found it truly inspiring.  In brief:

The Imagination Foundation’s mission is to find, foster, and fund creativity and entrepreneurship in kids.

The Imagination Foundation was formed by the creative team behind Caine’s Arcade, an 11-minute short film by Nirvan Mullick about a 9-year-old boy’s cardboard arcade. Posted online April, 9th, 2012, the film became a global phenomenon, receiving over 7 million views, raising a scholarship fund for Caine, and inspiring a wave of cardboard creativity around the world.

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Makedo hosted the Melbourne event. Makedo make connectors for creating things using the materials around you.

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When we arrived we registered, had a quick lesson on how to use Makedo. Then we were give a tool to use and cup full of connectors.

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There were a stack of old cardboard boxes for the kids to choose for their creation. The theme was to build a maze, through which everyone’s creations could be joined.

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The kids loved working inside the boxes, just as much as they did on the outside.

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One of the friendly staff from Makedo showed Miss 8 how to make the job of cutting a window in the cardboard a bit easier. Using the pointy part of the tool, you make a series of holes outlining the window.

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You can then cut through them starting at the top and working downwards.

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This technique made it so much easier to cut the window flap.

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It was such a hive of activity and the kids really thought about how we could make our design as stable as possible.

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We have been reading The Indian In The Cupboard series, so our creation had a teepee element to it inspired from the books.

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We couldn’t stay until the end of the session, but the kids loved their time creating and we arrived home later that day.

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Makedo were photographing and filming on the day, so we are looking forward to see how the maze turned out.

Have you been making stuff these school holidays?