We like building pop-up exhibits (and by like, we mean love). Don’t get us wrong, we also like the other stuff we do – professional learning, presenting at conferences, building loose parts collections… it’s all good. But the thing we like the very best is building pop-up exhibits. We like it SO much, we block off whole chunks of our calendar twice a year and rearrange/shorten, even (gasp) cancel family vacations. We spend weeks researching an idea across disciplines and industries – planning installations that will maximize creative thinking and engagement for kindergarteners to grandparents and every age in between. We consider multiple entry points, cultural differences, skill levels. We set everything in motion and then we wait – for the dreaded sense of disorientation, the bubbling panic, the looming doubts that hover just beyond our comfort zone. Why the heck would we put ourselves through all this?
Because we get to play.
We get to play with an idea that’s been tugging at the corner of our minds. We get to play with materials in new and unusual ways. We get to play with language and design and unconventional thinking. We give ourselves permission to break rules and make up new ones; to poke at the world without having to meet a list of expectations. And to embrace pure-possibility without worrying about being rated or graded. Giving ourselves permission to play also means we get to experience absolute creative control. We get to follow our instincts and pursue our curiosities. We get to chase adventure and then double back when we find ourselves too far off track. We get to spend hours and hours toying with a thought – flinging it in the air to see how it lands; walking away in a huff to see if it follows; stomping on it ’til it changes shape; gently encouraging it to see if it grows.
When we were kids, our moms used to say “go ahead – scoot, skedaddle.” Translation: GET OUT. Or more precisely, get outside! Go discover the living, breathing world that exists beneath a single rock. Go build an elaborate fort with your friends. Go fall off your bike or skip a rope or stare into space or climb a tree. Go do what you were meant to do.
Right now, it feels like the world is in flux – like it’s spinning out of control and not making sense. It makes us want to skedaddle again, like we did when we were children. It makes us want to contemplate and daydream and question everything – including our own theories about how we live and learn. So we’re circling back…to the Art of Play where we explored the intersection between art, play and nature. To Material World – where we looked closely at the inherent wisdom of materials. To Open House, where we celebrated the joy of open hearts and open minds. We’re revisiting all of our pop-up exhibits to mine them for the visceral moments that led us to our current thinking. And we’re following the trail of Frances and David Hawkin’s Theory of Messing About; David Sobel’s Play Motifs; and Peter Grey’s newly developing Ludic Theory of Human Nature. We’re looking closely at how encounters with nature inform human nature. And we're confronting the intrinsic value of play as an essential source for teaching and learning through authentic experience.
We recently flirted with the power of play at an exhibit we built exclusively for educators in Simcoe County. Now we’re expanding the concept to develop our theories even further. We hope you’ll scoot-skedaddle over to this incredible 2-day pop-up exhibit for children, families and educators on March Break. Join us to discover interactive installations that blend the charm of old-school neighbourhood play with the allure of unconventional thinking. Follow your heart to wonder, curiosity, and adventure. Re-imagine the natural human instinct to get totally, utterly, lost in play! Because when it really comes down to it, you should get to play, too.
Because we get to play.
We get to play with an idea that’s been tugging at the corner of our minds. We get to play with materials in new and unusual ways. We get to play with language and design and unconventional thinking. We give ourselves permission to break rules and make up new ones; to poke at the world without having to meet a list of expectations. And to embrace pure-possibility without worrying about being rated or graded. Giving ourselves permission to play also means we get to experience absolute creative control. We get to follow our instincts and pursue our curiosities. We get to chase adventure and then double back when we find ourselves too far off track. We get to spend hours and hours toying with a thought – flinging it in the air to see how it lands; walking away in a huff to see if it follows; stomping on it ’til it changes shape; gently encouraging it to see if it grows.
When we were kids, our moms used to say “go ahead – scoot, skedaddle.” Translation: GET OUT. Or more precisely, get outside! Go discover the living, breathing world that exists beneath a single rock. Go build an elaborate fort with your friends. Go fall off your bike or skip a rope or stare into space or climb a tree. Go do what you were meant to do.
Right now, it feels like the world is in flux – like it’s spinning out of control and not making sense. It makes us want to skedaddle again, like we did when we were children. It makes us want to contemplate and daydream and question everything – including our own theories about how we live and learn. So we’re circling back…to the Art of Play where we explored the intersection between art, play and nature. To Material World – where we looked closely at the inherent wisdom of materials. To Open House, where we celebrated the joy of open hearts and open minds. We’re revisiting all of our pop-up exhibits to mine them for the visceral moments that led us to our current thinking. And we’re following the trail of Frances and David Hawkin’s Theory of Messing About; David Sobel’s Play Motifs; and Peter Grey’s newly developing Ludic Theory of Human Nature. We’re looking closely at how encounters with nature inform human nature. And we're confronting the intrinsic value of play as an essential source for teaching and learning through authentic experience.
We recently flirted with the power of play at an exhibit we built exclusively for educators in Simcoe County. Now we’re expanding the concept to develop our theories even further. We hope you’ll scoot-skedaddle over to this incredible 2-day pop-up exhibit for children, families and educators on March Break. Join us to discover interactive installations that blend the charm of old-school neighbourhood play with the allure of unconventional thinking. Follow your heart to wonder, curiosity, and adventure. Re-imagine the natural human instinct to get totally, utterly, lost in play! Because when it really comes down to it, you should get to play, too.
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