Cardboard Challenge at Hill Sparks Creativity

It was a much-anticipated day at Hill Elementary School—their 2nd annual Cardboard Challenge. As part of the STEM activity inspired by Global Cardboard Challenge Day, 3rd grade students designed and created arcade-style games, and then worked in teams to build them out of cardboard shipping boxes.

The project started back in December, when students began collecting supplies and drawing out their games on paper. “Once individual designs were submitted, we put together groups of students based on who had similar ideas,” said 3rd grade teacher Pam Mulligan. “On build-day, students filed in to the Learning Resource Center and excitedly found their teammates to begin constructing the games they had previously designed on paper in the classroom,” continued Mulligan.

“As they worked together, they used critical thinking skills, learned resourcefulness, practiced perseverance, and collaborated with others,” added teacher Liz Thiel. Students were only able to use duct tape, scissors, string, cups and balls and of course the cardboard boxes to construct their games, and realized they had to be flexible. “"It was really fun building the games. I loved figuring out how to make our design become a real game that people could play," said student Valentina Mansour.

As the afternoon continued and the teams completed their projects, they each gave a short presentation about their games and how they worked, then had the opportunity to go around the room, exploring other teams’ projects. “It was very clear that time to 'play' all of the games was incredibly important to the students. They were just as excited to show off their own game as they were to play all of the others,” said teacher Kylie Wood. Parent volunteers helped keep the process moving, and at the end of the day, Kindergarten buddies were invited to see and play with the finished projects. "The cardboard challenge was so fun! It was the best day ever," exclaimed student Leena Mistretta.

The Cardboard Challenge is part of a global initiative that gives children an opportunity to collaborate, learn, and build the things they imagine through a simple process called Creative Play, according to the sponsoring organization, Imagination.org. “We were so excited for this year’s Challenge, and are already thinking about improvements and ideas for next year,” concluded Mulligan. “The Challenge lets students explore their interests and passions while celebrating child creativity where the sky is truly the limit!”

# # #

Photos: Courtesy of the Troy School District

590 -- 2 two boys - from left - Ethan SooSoo and Vadim Makohin, building a hockey-style game

608 -- 4 kids and a grandparent from left - Helena Fawaz, Noah Zimmerman, Emily Balmus, Charlie Kowitz (Grandma Kowitz is adult helper) , building a “claw machine,” that could scoop up prizes -

720 -- Quinten Lagesse, Serah Issac, Jasper Srock and Aadhya Shrish Kumar, who created an air hockey game with a fan blowing underneath