Makerspaces: Aotearoa New Zealand: Idea Exchange: Come PLAY with us!

Tuesday 17 May 2016

Idea Exchange: Come PLAY with us!

Family discovery time

by Andrea Siemens, Coordinator, Youth Services, Idea Exchange

PLAY! We know it builds literacy, creativity, curiosity, empathy and many other life skills. In following Idea Exchange’s vision to “create an environment of curiosity and discovery through the exploration of the arts and new technologies” our spaces needed to reflect our dedication to play and discovery based learning. We know that early learning is developed through play, but it is not only children that benefit from hands on learning experiences. Adults also learn through exploration. That’s why when you walk into an Idea Exchange location you’ll find tables with puzzles, board games, adult coloring sheets, building toys and technology (and that’s just in the adult section!). More importantly, you’ll find people playing and learning together.

In order to make this shift from a book warehouse to an engaged community partner in discovery and learning, Idea Exchange has changed the way that we think about our spaces, our programs and ourselves (our staff).

Traditionally, libraries offered solely instruction based programming with a library staff person leading the group as the expert. In a new focus on interactive learning, many Children’s programs at Idea Exchange have moved from instruction to facilitation. Explore on the Floor is a program with 6-8 discovery centers placed throughout the Children’s Department with the idea that caregivers and little people engage in free play together. Stay and Play activities pop up with new hands-on activity stations set up throughout the department – no registration, no set times – just come and play. Each day has something new to discover and explore.

Child at play with Makey makey

During these programs, Idea Exchange programmers engage with the children and caregivers in play. We have afterschool programs where new technology tools like squishy circuits and robots are tested together. Our collection has grown to include light boxes and xrays, human heart models and snap circuits, 3D glasses and high powered microscopes, and these new technology tools form new ways of learning in our locations.

A very successful initiative has been the teen volunteer mentorship programs. Programs like Math Buddies, Reading Buddies and French Buddies team up a teen volunteer with a child to practice learning and play games together. Again, the Idea Exchange programmer acts as a facilitator and guide rather than the instructor. In a unique partnership, BIG GAMES crew teamed up Wilfrid Laurier University students with local teens to paint large scrabble and domino pieces crafted by the Cambridge Centre for the Arts Woodworking Club which were then played with by children during March Break programs at Clemens Mill. This was truly a multi-generational partnership.

Young girls at lightbox

The shift from instruction to play and interactive learning meant that we had to view ourselves differently as Idea Exchange staff. Rather than being the experts, we are also the curious, the tinkerer, the novice, the explorer. This shift changes the way we can engage with our community – we are also here to learn, to play and to discover. The goal is to support lifelong learning for our members and for ourselves.

As I write this article, 5 children and 2 adults are playing a rousing game of Headbanz together. This sort of intergenerational play in our space creates an environment both alive and full of potential. A place that sparks creativity, innovation and develops a love of learning at any age. Come and PLAY with us!