Architecture by Children Program:

Melodie wrote: On Wednesday January 31 from 10:30-12 , I wanted to cover the basics on the first few handouts... water, garbage, reusing materials, that kind of stuff. Basically an overview of Phase 1. There are all kinds of experiments and activities listed. Most of them are fairly simple and don't take up much time. I will ask that anyone who would like to, that they can do one of the activities that from the papers, and document the results to share with the group on Wednesday. Please let me know if you are interested in doing an experiment so I can make sure we have them all covered for the class. We will brainstorm on all kinds of ideas for the projects. We will spend some time discussing what would be green (or not) about our brainstorming. What would work the best (or not) and why.

February 12th (this is a Monday)we will meet again, same time same place. I picked this date so we will be fresh from the Green House Trip, the Architect Visit, and the Imago Center Caretakers Class the week before for any of us that are attending some or all three of these events related to this ABC Architecture Program. Since our projects will already be underway, I am going to be focusing more on Cincinnati, the surrounding locations and how they can incorporate the needs of the city into their project. I have ordered the book ArchiGames(50 Activities to Build Creative Thinkers) recommended by the ABC Resource List. Hopefully it will be in by this time and we can utilize it in the group, as well.

The last day will be February 21st. Since we are close to the date of the ABC Architecture Fair we will close this program discussing what we have done and why. What changes we have made throughout the process. How we feel that our own project fits into Cincinnati. And for those of us that are still working on our projects, we will be putting the finishing touches on our ideas.

I would like to say that I feel the curriculum for this year's ABC architecture project is geared more toward the older kids (middle school and up maybe?) And I am gearing the work I do with my kids toward that age group as well. The younger kids may not find this stuff interesting and fun. In my opinion (and since my boys will be each paired up with a younger sister for the project) my girls are not old enough for this. I will get a movie for them to watch or they can engage in quiet play while I am working with the older kids. All of the young kids are welcome to watch the movie or also engage in quiet play if they are not interested in the group discussion.

Let me know if your kids are interested in coming over and working with us. We would love the company.