Playful Learning in Finnish Classrooms
Piia Martikainen: My motivation for using games and gamification in the classroom is to make learning engaging to those who might not otherwise be interested in learning. Today’s students are… Read More
seriesOttiya Play Issue
In the Ottiya Magazine Play Issue, we explore the intersections of play and learning. We uncover how education innovators all over the world understand and conceptualize play in different ways. Together with our contributors, we explore questions such as: what kind of objects allow for free play? How is tinkering related to play? What are the challenges of designing places for play? How can we help students to create playful experiences in virtual reality instead of limiting them as consumers?
Food for Thought
Parents say, “don’t play with your food.” But have you ever considered food as art? Every week, grocery shopping is an essential activity for each family, and there is no… Read More
When Children and Adults Work Together on Playgrounds
We are Johan, Marcus and Freja, Grade 7 students who are Youth Reporters of the Capital of Children in Denmark. We interviewed designers at the Design School Kolding and the playground manufacturer… Read More
Designing Undetermined Spaces for Play
An Empty Field (Harappa) and An Amusement Park | Contradictions in planning a space for play There is a famous essay known among contemporary architects in Japan written by an… Read More
Can Learning Be Playful In 6th Grade Like Kindergarten?
Hi! My name is Claire, and I’m a 6th-grade student who lives in Taipei, Taiwan. I love to read, and today I’m here to talk about the topic of whether… Read More
Crayons, Cardboard, and Virtual Reality
Teaching children to be creative is easily done through play. In fact, it is impossible not to be creative once you enter a state of play [1]. Children play intuitively… Read More
Compositional Tinkering in the Music Room
In this article, I explore if a music educator can and should think of composition as tinkering. Traditional compositional pedagogy may miss valuable and enjoyable learning experiences the tinkering process… Read More
Playing and Learning through Rhythm and Song in Ghana
All students from Class 1 to Junior Secondary School (JSS) 3 (9th grade) had lined up in arrow-straight rows by grade in my new school’s large courtyard: boys on the… Read More
Play for Creative Learning: Interview with Mitch Resnick
Mitch Resnick is the Director of the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab and the LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research. His research group created Scratch, a visual… Read More
[Ottiya Play Issue] Letter from the Editor, Rufina Park
For many of us, the idea that learning and even education can be playful seems like a paradox. Despite the rise of project-based learning and student-centered teaching practices, we still… Read More