NEXT.cc Nature Play Workshop
NEXT.cc pairs up with Notre Dame School 4th graders for an interactive Nature Play workshop. Students look at creative ways to re-imagine a new playground, using word webs, site maps and site programming in their explorations. Sunlight, sources of sound, and weather all play a part in a hands-on approach that encourages new observations about the natural and built environment. Even the way they play comes into question: Can their play be dramatic? Active? Creative? Most importantly, students brainstorm ways to reintroduce nature into the predominantly asphalt building site. How do weather, sunlight, nature, play, and other factors influence a final design? By the end of the morning, students produced models and drawings of their playground to put their new knowledge into practice. Through hands-on, group activities, students accessed tools and knowledge of design participation and empowered 21st century collaborative methods in re-imagining new ways of learning and playing in nature.