This summer our designers were introduced to a new tool, the Chomp Saw. This new and exciting tool helps the designers cut their cardboard to any shape and size by guiding it along the cutting plate. In preparation to use the tool, the designers begin by  sketching out their plan as a guideline to complete their cutting. J.G . our CIT, is demonstrating to O.P.  how to move the cardboard to continue cutting it in a forward motion. 

Designers took inspiration from the Giraffe from "Circle of Life" video in making big props for their play. They took turns tracing pictures from projections on cardboard that go along with their story. They each picked something different like a car, a house, or a Lion. The projector helped the designers to scale up the designs. When they use them in the play, they will be able to almost fully disappear behind their character, by holding onto it from behind. Next week they will start rehearsing!

E.B.: “I traced a house today.”

C.C.: “The hardest part of tracing today was staying on the lines”

K.G.: “I traced a car”

I.M.: “I made a stick for the pride story this afternoon.“

This morning, designers were challenged to work together to create the tallest tower that they could using cardboard, with scissors and cardboard cutters as their only other material—no glue or tape. This challenge was intended to diversify designers’ ideas for connecting materials beyond using hot glue or masking tape.

M.C.S. - "We used slits to combine the cardboard. We used a cardboard box as the base. If the base was steady then the top of the tower would be stable. More people were joining our group as it was getting taller."

During the morning meeting, the designers practiced their storytelling skills by passing around a mini Pride and creating a silly story together. As Pride was passed around the circle each child added an element to the story. They ended up creating a story about Pride wanting friends and then making many new ones with names like Mr. Banana and Pogo Stick. All the friends went to the beach together, took a trip to the forest, got ice cream, and then went home to nap. 

Questions to guide our conversation: 

How does our story start? 

What happens next? 

We have our problem but how do we get to the solution?

How should our story end? 

What should they say?

What do we need to create to act out this part? 

This morning, designers continued their exploration of puppets by choosing between the challenge of creating a finger puppet from the unique and challenging materials provided, or finishing up their moving-limb puppets from yesterday morning.

What was a challenge you faced during this activity?

W.P.- “Building the finger puppet was hard because of making it curved and also getting the size of your finger.”

C.T. -”It is  so hard to use the hole punchers and also getting the brass fastener into the hole.”

S.K. - “Everything was hard about making the puppet because there were so many steps to get it complete.”

E.B. - “Figuring out how to put the tape so it would hold the puppet together.”

G.S.- “How to find the materials to use and also how to get the right size of my finger.”

G.M.- “Making the tape not visible.”

S.A.M - “Thinking of an idea and then trying to put it together without glue because glue is stronger.”

C.L. - “Remembering which one is the arm and which one is the leg.”

C.J. - “Finding where I am going to put my finger.”

The Stage Crew designers spent the afternoon focused on building the props and characters from their stories. Groups practiced teamwork by splitting up responsibilities to finish their creation. There was so much creativity happening in one space. 

To the left, C.T., W.P., and R.F.W. are building a castle to protect puppets from a snake that wiggles. The story goes: "One time a lone 'snacekel' attacked a castle, this is how it happened. He attacked from the side he climbed to the top of the fortress..."

A.L., C.L., and E.B. are reading their script around their set that takes place on the beach.

During our afternoon work period, the set builders were finishing their sets for their productions. One problem one of the group ran into was the stability of the walls for their cardboard castle. After hot gluing and having no solution they decided to try something else. One of our CIT members, I helped out by giving the group an idea to attach a small cardboard triangle on the side of the wall connecting it to the cardboard floor! Using teamwork, they all worked together by cutting, tracing, and gluing the cardboard triangles which led to them successfully stabilizing the castle. 

Written by, A.V.

During the afternoon, the kids were assigned to make their own sock puppet. First, they had to draw their ideas. Then, they had to find their materials and after that,  they could start to build their sock puppet. Nash decided to build a snake and at first he was stuck but after a bit of time, he had decided on a snake. N.B. started coloring it green, “because most snakes are green,” N.B. said. After coloring it , he was a little confused on how to make eyes but then when we saw some buttons, he really wanted to use them. After he had made the eyes, N.B really wanted a long tongue with a ‘v’ shape. N.B. then decided to use some pipe cleaners and cut them up so he could make the ‘v’ shape. Once N.B. was done, he looked quite  scary with his sock puppet snake!

W. T.: “I made socky and they love to play with his toys”

N.B.: “I made a snake and it loves to hissssss at people.”

D.B. : “His name is slumber pants and he is funny.”

A.B.: “My dog's name is twitch which is named after my cousin's dog and he never likes to go in his crate.”

Written by, J.G.

That's a great question for a member of "The Creator Engineering Building Club"!

This morning, the designers were introduced to the four parts that make up a good story; characters, setting, problem and solution!

In the afternoon, the designers began to think of their own personal theatrical production using one of our favorite recycled materials, shoeboxes. With white paper and a drawing utensil in hand, the designers sketched their ideas, labeled what materials they needed and got right to work building their theaters. 

This morning, the Stage Crew created puppets that represented themselves. They began by thinking about things that make them unique like their fashion sense, hobbies, hair style, and accessories. After they put their designs on paper, they learned about how to make the puppets move with brass fasteners. Soon they had puppets that could wave, run and dance!

After planning and prototyping, the designers started to make their final products for their theater project. They used materials varying from cardboard to fabrics to pipe cleaners. Designers got to let there imaginations run wild by creating a world of their own. 

M.C.S, C.B.G., S.A.M, and G.M. came up with a story called A Lion's Love / Tragedy.  "It started with a lion who saw Santa Clause,  and then his sleigh turned into a submarine, and then the lion ate him by accident." said M.C.S. 

Before the field trip to Huntington Theater, the Acting Architects delved deeper into the history of the toy theater. Toy Theaters were developed in the late 18th century in Europe and were used to perform in the home for family and friends. Over the years it has been adopted as an art form by artists and performers across the world who make weird and wonderful creations.

Designers are tasked with making a toy theater based on a remixed version of the Lion and the Mouse. Their creation must have 3 moving parts, lighting, and be portable. To warm up, they did a group improv activity acting out various scenes using random props. It was a spectacle!

The Acting Architects are making their own version of the classic fable the Lion and the Mouse but with their own creative vision. They created schematics for the front and back stage of their toy theaters. They then began creating prototypes of the various moving components and building the foundation of their sets. So far they have a talk show, a rock concert, a castle, and a play on the Serengeti. Designers are encouraged to think outside of the box!... as they create their small theaters made of boxes.

Today, the designers got a backstage pass to the Huntington Theater  with a behind the scenes presentation of how a theater production works. We met with the Theater Manager, Kat, who showed us around different areas like the mezzanine, the rehearsal hall, the orchestra pit (where we got to stand on the conductor's stand!), and the costume room. The designers had many thoughtful questions on our journey. K.G. asked "how long does it take to make a costume?" Kat walked us through the process, explaining that first you take measurements of the actor, then build the first draft in muslin. After you try that version on the actor and take notes then you make another version in muslin. When it's finally correct, you make the real version. The whole process can take one to two months!

As we work through new projects, we encourage designers to follow the design process to guide them towards a clear and meaningful goal. J.G. introduced the 5 steps: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. Empathize is a crucial first step because its where designers understand the needs of the users of the product. From there they can begin to brainstorm potential problems and solutions. Next comes the protype, which can look like or work like the solution they have in mind. With tests that lead to failures and successes, they get closer to their final design! J.G. explained how it's a big circle that can keep going and going as we continue to improve a design.

Designers transformed themselves into animal characters during their afternoon project. They sketched out what their mask will look like beforehand and thought about what colors and patterns are on their animal. They looked at minature animal figures for inspiration. After making a prototype, they worked on making masks that fit their face. They used different colored markers and some accessories like feathers to make it realistic.

Designers were challenged to make a script and story around what they think Pride the Lion would do while he's on summer vacation. After creating the script and characters, they would turn it into a puppet show! They split up into groups and each came out with their unique story. Ideas varied from Pride on a rollercoaster, to pride in a musical, meeting Santa Clause, and on the beach! "Ours is 7 pages long, with no pictures!" G.S.

• "I'm making a prototype of giant snake, with a monster." - W.P.

• “We’re making a machine that’s creepy, but looks good.” - S.Y.

• “We were proud of making our vending machine.” - L.W. & S.Y.

• “A challenge was figuring out who our characters were” - E.B.

• “Agreeing on the script was a little hard” R.B. “I'm proud of how funny our script is! I’m wondering how we will make the puppets move”.

The Acting Architects started with a couple questions: What is theater? Where do we use theater engineering? Some examples were plays - community, broadway, music concerts and festivals, live television - awards, talk shows, live streaming - games, sports,  and protests and community activism. 

All the designers are experienced and excited so the first design challenge was simple - Make a puppet! They utilized skills they learned in the past and their creative problem skills to make some unique designs. From there they used their puppets in an improv game called Change the Channel. Students were given a type of tv show and the puppets acted it out.   

In the afternoon, the designers were introduced to the idea of toy theaters - small diorama-esque displays with moving components used to tell stories. They will be making their own toy theaters throughout the week. They could make a toy theater into a playhouse, concert venue, talk show, or whatever they wanted to. They sketched out plans and identified a component that would be difficult to construct. Then they created a prototype of that component so we wouldn’t run into issues after they build our sets.