RE: PLAY project – creative workshops for children

The RE: PLAY project is in full swing, project partners are connected to a Western Balkans network of creatives and we have switched from online events and meetings to outdoor activities.With outdoor activities in Ljubljana, we caught some of the last dry and warm autumn days. We prepared a series of creative workshops for children of the first and second primary school triad. Karel Destovnik Kajuh Elementary School in Ljubljana was selected as a pilot project, and schoolchildren as the main planners and co-creators of the new design of the school’s surroundings. In the sunny afternoons of mid-October, we guided the playful work of students in three workshops:

• During the first, the children engaged in the analysis of the outer space of the school, interviewing each other. They expressed out loud what they liked around the school and what they didn’t and why and what they would change. The entire activity was documented with cameras and mobile phones, and the recordings were saved for further processing.
• In the second afternoon, we jumped from the analysis to concrete proposals for outdoor activities. We used the outdoor classroom that has become a place of creation. The children drew many ideas and then arranged the drawing sheets as flags in the space. To know where they want to do something!
• At the third gathering we had fun with ideas in a different way and wondered what the arrangements would actually look like in space. Under the guidance of Pazi!park mentors, the children made life-size 3D models from cardboard and other materials and placed them in the space around the school.

You can find more about individual workshops in our social media posts.

The members of Pazi!park and children documented the varied and playful events with photographs and on video. The material will be used in the project for the preparation of video clips and a planner’s handbook. The workshop, where the children will also edit their videos, will be on the agenda soon. It will be another opportunity for the exchange of ideas and playful creativity, but above all also for gaining knowledge and experience and practical skills. Through these activities, we realize one of the main purposes of the RE: PLAY project, which is to plan and create spaces for play together with children.

With childish curiosity that accompanies every creative process, we look forward to further activities!