or booklet draft (pdf)

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forest

mountains

• wooden blocks with patterns on all sides, to match, to build with; or could be soft (foam?) blocks covered in patterned fabric
• learning tools that have another use: matching game that is also a place mat (is this disruptive to dinner?), or maybe it’s a poster, the pieces can be taken out of a frame to play with and then placed in the frame to look at, or hang
• sheet sets: half of the kids took photos of their beds. playing in their rooms, on their beds, more then just for sleeping, could be a point to encourage imaginative play…
• blankets for blanket forts: the idea of collaborative play, pretend play, making and doing
• removable/restickable vinyl stickers for walls, kids can create their own unique wall patterns with the components provided

more notes on fort blankets

• using words/typography/hand drawn lettering; possible words: invisible, hide, play, make, create, build, fortress, castle, pretend
• a forest made from simple shapes: squares, circles, triangles
• a pattern of windows
• the idea of structure: bricks, wood, forest/trees, chairs, pillows, couches, stacked furniture, scaffolding, framing
• monsters, animals
• fields, mountains, hills, clouds, ocean, water
• mazes & secret passageways
• incorporate numbers
• maybe its a set of blankets, which includes a small booklet to explain context, that they are meant as a jumping of point for pretend play, to encourage imagination and make-believe
• some of these ideas could work well with a number of media, like sheets or wallpaper. through the probes i’ve noticed that the way kids play and pretend is not linear at all, so the idea of having fun, playful visuals that surround them makes sense

Some notes about the probes.

Triangle, circle, square

• only one kid added anything else to the page, the rest coloured in the shapes, staying in the lines.

Tell me a story about what you see

• most were really literal
• one kid personified the shapes making them fun and dynamic

Draw three or more shapes

• seem very influenced by what they’ve just seen, mostly drawing circles, squares and triangles

Make a drawing, tell me a story about it

• variation of 3 little pigs story
• repetitive drawing, one that is different
• connection to nature, sense of smell
• combination of commercialized culture with own imagination
• cats, pigs, mice: anthropomorphizing

Photos

• nature, outdoors
• bedrooms, playrooms, clutter: process of playing is messy, not linear
• friends, family, collaborative play
• pets, part of their family
• patterns on the floor
• close ups of toys, figures: army man, polar bear, wall-e, lego
• quilts on beds: 2 spider man, 1 cinderella