Play Space Design Workshops Wrap Up

Last Friday we wrapped up our 6 weeks of Friday Play Space Design Workshops.  18 children and nearly as many adults worked together on drawings, models and a couple of "prototypes" that we've coalesced into a mutable master plan for next weekends Play Space Build Extravaganza!

 We hope you can join us!

Check out the design fun below (We don't have any pictures of everyone's amazing drawings. We're working on a zine to distribute at an end of Summer Opening and the drawings will all be on display for next weekends Build) :

We spent the first few weeks focused on making drawings and models of our dream play spaces. Here's our crew hard at work.

Below is Daniela Carlin's (age 7) "Rainbow Climber".

 Here is Fawn Potash's climbing web plus zip line in progress.

When Matt Bua described the concept of armature in sculpture making to
Charlotte LaRocque (age 7) she modified her chair model
to include wood and pipe cleaner supports. 

Laura Anderson and Olivia LaRocque (age 9) were both excited about including tents in the play space. This model of their concept was built by Olivia. You can't see it from this angle but there are pipe cleaner bean bag chairs inside the tent.

Kaithe (age 6) built this model of an obstacle course on stilts with the help of his father Scott.

Julia Russell built the model below of a Vet's office. She described it as one incarnation of a room in the play space that could change into lots of different things like a Laboratory or Restaurant or a place to go to be quiet and get ideas.

Echo Roe built this one. It's the entrance to the play space. 

You drop a token in the basket as you go in.

On the last day of the workshop we had a slideshow of Play Grounds from around the World. (We wanted to do this at the beginning but had some technical difficulties with the projector)  Olivia was inspired by photos of a giant knitted climbing sculpture in Japan and decided to try her hand at weaving a net for our play space. She started out trying to use these pieces of cardboard to attach the weaving to...

...but decided that a PVC frame might work better.

 The finished "prototype" was beautiful and functional and enjoyed by many. We discussed how she could make the weaving tighter and she's excited to make another to be hung up like a swing during the Build Weekend.

During the last two weeks of the workshop we got out the hand drills and screw drivers and the kids learned how to use tools safely while putting together a box and a "fox" frame that will be incorporated into the Play Space.

The ever cautious Matt even let these two determined girls use the saw.

Design has been a theme in the CCC's After School Program as well as our Friday workshops. Charlotte LaRocque, who attends both programs, recently drew this picture which she then created a model of using blocks. They represent her vision of a "Utopian Catskill" with elevated streets, parks in between and a Pyramid meeting place in the enter of the village.