Spark's Space - and RSA 2022 Student Awards Submission for these of 'Press Play'
A project concept designed to encourage children to explore their homes and communities, expanding on what they are learning in school and presenting them with visual and interactive ways to solve problems.
What is Spark’s Space?
Spark’s Space is a project concept designed to encourage families to get involved and interact with primary school education by presenting families with a series of physical and digital games which encourage interactive, creative problem-solving. The project consists of two elements, a card game set and an interactive app. Both elements can be used separately from each other or they can be used together. The content of the games is tailored to what the students are learning in school so they can apply the problem-solving methods they learn in Spark’s Space to their learning, to help them find which problem-solving method works best for them.
The card game is designed to encourage families to explore their homes and use the material they have around them as a learning tool so that the card game can be accessible to as many families by not having to buy any additional material to complete the different games. The games are designed to be engaging and involve all members of the family. An example of one of the games involves exploring your senses, where for each sense they have to use that sense like a superhero would find different objects, smells and textures around their homes.
The app is designed to encourage families to explore their communities and encourage families to walk more. For each walk, the users chose a topic they would like to learn about, and Spark teaches them about that topic and how it relates to what they are learning in school. An example would be learning about the people who help support the community. On the treasure hunt walk Spark would ask the family to find a bin and take a photograph. After this Spark would talk about the importance of bin and how they help keep the community clean, how it helps look after the world and the importance of bin people who help dispose of the rubbish in the right way. This would link to what students learn about the globe and recycling. Once they have found the bin and learnt about the importance of bin and being aware of disposing of rubbish in the right way, the user would be presented with a real-world activity to complete while they finish their treasure hunt walk. Spark’s Space is designed to be aimed at families with children between the ages of 3-11, as these years are especially important for encouraging exploration not just within education but through play as well. Spark’s Space combined these two areas to encourage children and adults to play more a see what a useful tool it can be not just within the education system but beyond as well.