The meeting was led by Joel Liimatainen. Here's his summary:
"To start things off we gave the students a tour of the facilities and introduced Jessica, Ivette and Dave to the group. Then we discussed themes. This took up the majority of the time. We settled on the following main themes:
A bug's view and playing with perspective/oversized elements. Continuing the crooked house theme throughout the play area, using crazy angles and things like that whenever possible. Seasonal elements - should include things that can be changed in and out to keep things fresh. Last, but not least - light! After some of the talk about tubes and caves, Jessica suggested that we remember the importance of light. It is sort of a refuge for parents and kids in the dark winter, after all.
After that we split into groups (listed in the sidebar). These groups aren't all encompassing, we will need to add some more on as we go. With the number of people we had, and shooting for about four people per group, we just limited it to the following five groups for now: 1. Sky design (draped cloth, clouds, birds, etc.) 2.Playhouse 3. Open Area - Floor (also tasked with working with the other groups to keep the themes unified) 4. Toddler Area 5. Infant Area.
Rick will assign some other students who couldn't make it to the class to the infant area group as well.
I asked the groups to brainstorm ideas and and post on the blog some specific elements that they would like to see and maybe design. Also, I emphasised the need to be as cost efficient as possible and think about things that we can actually make. Cathy had the idea of themed toy carts that could be rolled in and out of the playspace. There could be a funky kitchen cart, a music cart, etc. She also would like to see a spot dedicated to parent one-on-one. And finally, someone (I think it was Julie) said something along the lines of the Enchanted Treehouse and we were wowed by it. Cathy said she would get in touch with Dave about it. The idea that we're building an enchanted treehouse and forest inside our space is so cool. Really fires the imagination."
See you all on the 9th!!!
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TODDLER AREA Group notes from our discussion:
ReplyDeleteWe discussed possible play structures and came up with the idea of an oversized couch with removable cushions. All of us agreed that fort building was fun when we were toddlers and the oversized couch would be interactive fun for the children. Add maybe washable sheets and blankets as well as assorted throw pillows to use as fort-making elements.
The group also discussed the use of foam building blocks and puzzle pieces to keep active minds exploring and working together.
Some other misc. items discussed:
*Duplo building block table with built-in container to hold blocks in the middle
*Castle structure for make believe plays, performances (sort of like a puppet stage)
*Magnetic wall with numerous magnets, maybe letters, shapes