Parque de Farrapos was a play festival held in 3 cities in the state of Espirito Santo, Brazil, during the summer holidays in February, 2020.
I traveled to Espirito Santo one month before the festival to train the design team and the facilitators that would bring the festival to life. The training program included one day of play and reflection with the full team, one day of play, discussion, and co-design with local educators for the design team, and several further days of sparring with the design team.
Here you can see a Trello board with documentation of the first day of workshops. 1
The project was a collaboration between Purpose and the LEGO Foundation. The broader aim of this partnership in Brazil was to lift parent perceptions of the importance of play in their children's development.
Over 2,000 children, parents, teachers, and NGOs came to play at the park, taking part in activities designed to engage kids and their parents in learning through play. As well as lots of attention from the general public, local municipalities and decision-makers came out to support (and play!) in the park.
Notes #
1 I was semi-regularly discussing workshop design with Yusuf Ahmad at that time for his project Tools that Lower the Floors, Widen the Walls, and Raise the Ceilings for Designing Creative Learning Experiences. The Trello board was made as a kind of remixable workshop plan that could be replicated (and edited) by other educators.
I’m a better talker than I am a writer, so ask me about this and I’ll be very happy to expand on what’s written here.