On Saturday, May 9, 17 kids between 8-18 years old joined a 50+ adult in their life (parents, grandparents, relatives, or friends) for a free, three-hour video game design workshop at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. hosted by AARP and MentorUp, E-Line Media and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center. Allison Mishkin of the Cooney Center, and Mark German of E-Line Media led the pairs throughout a workshop to discover the elements that make up any game — space, components, mechanics, goals, and rules — and the importance of finding the right balance with those elements to make a game fun to play. Groups of pairs joined together to apply these five elements of game creation to make up their own physical games using household and office supplies.
Then the pairs sat together at laptop computers to create their own video games using the Gamestar Mechanic game-based learning tool. All of the participants were engaged in the process of designing a game that they would like to play together. This event was part of a pilot series of workshops in multiple cities through June 28. See the events calendar at stemchallenge.org or mentorup.org for more information.
Allison Mishkin from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center facilitated the Intergenerational STEM video game design workshop held at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.. Photo Credit: Matt Roth for AARP
Heiriss Flood, 10, and her grandmother Casandra Smith, 64, play a video game during the Intergenerational STEM video game design workshop at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.. Board games were made by attendees to help establish operational rules for the video games they would eventually make. Photo Credit: Matt Roth for AARP
Mackenzie Turrentine, 9, and her grandmother Rhonda Brown, 52, play a video game during the Intergenerational STEM video game design workshop at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Photo Credit: Matt Roth for AARP
Mackenzie Turrentine, 9, and her grandmother Rhonda Brown, 52, play a video game during the Intergenerational STEM video game design workshop at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Photo Credit: Matt Roth for AARP
Mike and Mikey O'Grady , left, and Kamili Wilson (AARP employee) and her son Jared participate in the Intergenerational STEM video game design workshop at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.. Photo Credit: Matt Roth for AARP
: John Slaughter, III, 70, attends the Intergenerational STEM video game design workshop at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Saturday May 9, 2015 with his fourteen-year-old son John Slaughter IV. Photo Credit: Matt Roth for AARP
: Jason Kalshoven, 13, left, his dad James Kalshoven, 67, middle, test out board game John Slaughter IV, 14, right, helped make during the Intergenerational STEM video game design workshop at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Saturday May 9, 2015. Board games were made by attendees to help establish operational rules for the video games they would eventually make.
Photo Credit: Matt Roth for AARP
Sharon Gross, 38, Heiriss Flood, 10, and her grandmother Casandra Smith, 64, create a board game during the Intergenerational STEM video game design workshop at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.. Board games were made by attendees to help establish operational rules for the video games they would eventually make. Photo Credit: Matt Roth for AARP
Participants create a board game during the Intergenerational STEM video game design workshop at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Saturday May 9, 2015. Board games were made by attendees to help establish operational rules for the video games they would eventually make.
Photo Credit: Matt Roth for AARP
All photos by Matt Roth for AARP
