by: Melody Drawbond, Everton R-3

In 2011, a filmmaker named Nirvan Mullick went to an auto body store to pick up a part. When he got there, he found the owner’s son had created an entire arcade of games created from cardboard boxes. After playing some of these games with nine-year-old Caine Monroy, he was astounded at this display of creativity. A few weeks later, he returned to ask Caine’s father for permission to make a short film about the arcade. George Monroy not only granted permission, but also shared that he (Nirvan), had been Caine’s first and sole customer. After learning this, the filmmaker decided to organize a surprise flash mob of customers for Caine’s Arcade. On October 2, 2011, a crowd of over 100 gathered to play at Caine’s arcade. The filmmaker released his short documentary and it went viral! With the success of the documentary, the filmmaker created a college fund for Caine and the Imagination Foundation, which is a nonprofit with a mission to find, foster and fund creativity and entrepreneurship in children. Each year they issue a global cardboard challenge, which culminates in a day of play.

As part of my research skills class for eighth graders, we always watch that video on YouTube. From there, the students decide if they would prefer to work alone or in a group. Then the planning process begins where they brainstorm and sketch their design ideas for activities that young people would like to engage with. Ideas are pitched to the class, and they ask for feedback from peers. After some practice with different joining techniques, an introduction to the tools and the ever-important safety demonstration, construction begins.

Every year, this project comes out differently – some classes tend to focus on the engineering aspects of their games and develop inner workings for things like an automatic ball return. Other years, the class focused more on appearance - working diligently on painting and decoration to make the games as visually appealing as possible. Astoundingly, this was the first year there was a mixture of both. The activities included: two Plinko games, cornhole, a throwing accuracy game, ring toss with a twist, bowling and a semi-truck obstacle course. Previous years have produced dance games (inspired by Dance Dance Revolution), variations of Skee-Ball, foosball, basketball, football, throwing at targets, pinball and many others.

We also have what we call the creation station, where students are challenged to create something unique. This years’ creation station mission was to put faces on puppets and create an improvisational puppet show. Of course, while part of the objective of this unit is for students to have fun and really engage with the project, that’s not the primary objective. 

The cardboard arcade has been held for nine years because of what this project offers the students. They pitch their ideas to the class and are given feedback to consider any needed changes. Games must be constructed while learning to work with others efficiently, and students often deal with creative differences between team members. 

There are always engineering and other problems to troubleshoot as well – rules and procedures must be decided upon and clearly communicated. Students must learn flexibility, because some problems they encounter have limitations that require them to change their plans. Just as importantly, after the flurry of building, painting and playing are done, students are required to reflect on the entirety of the project. They evaluate their game, what they might have done differently and what they would have kept. The quality of their work ethic and the effectiveness of their partnership is judged within groups. Another goal is that through all the stages of this project, students must look at failure as an obstacle to be worked around and not a final product. This shows that success has many different looks and may not be what they first thought it would be at the beginning.

Give the cardboard challenge a try and don't forget to document the process!