Two weeks of Puzzle Play

Over the last two weeks, we (the Chief Fun Officer and I) brought the Puzzle of Life to five very different groups of kids in two very different venues:

• One group of elementary-aged kids in the "Life in the Cosmos" Camp at CMSC
• One group of middle-school kids in the "Life in the Cosmos" Camp at CMSC (photos here)
• One group of preschool children (and their parents), at the August edition of the Young Explorers Program at CMSC
• Two sets of Junior Rangers at Carpenteria State Beach (one last Thu, and one last Fri).

Overall, it went great, which I find very exciting. In creating the Puzzle, one of my primary goals was to create something flexible, so that different people/groups could engage with it in whatever way was comfortable/fun/appropriate for them. After these past two weeks, I feel confident that we've achieved that goal. Since I am really excited about all of these events, I was really looking forward to sharing some photos, and I thought we'd worked out all the necessary permissions. Unfortunately, that turned out to be more complex than expected. At the moment, we've only got one set of photos, and we can only reference them via weblink (here). Over the next couple weeks, we may get permission to share more of those photos, or we might not. We'll see. Still, the photos that we do have are great, as they really showcase the flexibility of the Puzzle. Looking closely, you can see that each group of middle-school kids took the Puzzle in a different direction: ocean ecology, friendly heckling (note the 'those guys' tile being eaten by the Kraken), and Halo. We're now looking to schedule fall events, so if you know of anyone in SoCal who would be interested doing some playful learning, please let us know directly, or share our public address: [email protected].