Nonprofit

Imagination Foundation

Inspired by the short viral film "Caine's Arcade," we foster creativity and entrepreneurship in children around the world through Creative Play.

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2 Submitted Ideas

  • PLAY ·2015 Grants Challenge

    LA League of Imagination

    We will launch 20 Imagination Chapters throughout Los Angeles to form the "LA League of Imagination." Imagination Chapters are pop-up learning spaces that teach 21st century skills to children through Creative Play. They can launch anywhere, with anyone, and require few resources to ignite child imagination.

  • 2013 Grants Challenge

    The Caines Arcade Challenge

    10,000 children in Los Angeles will start their 2013 school year by participating in the Caine’s Arcade Challenge. Hosted by the Imagination Foundation and inspired by the short film, “Caine’s Arcade,” this Challenge will foster creativity and celebrate the imagination of children by inviting elementary and middle school-aged youth to design and build fun and engaging arcade games made from cardboard, recycled materials and imagination.

    “Caine’s Arcade” has been widely cited as one of the most inspirational stories of 2012. The film has received nearly 8 million views, trended worldwide on Twitter, gathered a Facebook community of 130,000+ fans, and inspired a wave of cardboard creativity in backyards and classrooms across the globe.

    During the month of September, children participating in the Caine’s Arcade Challenge will design and build cardboard arcades in schools all over the Southland; then on October 5th, commemorating the flashmob that came out to make Caine’s day in the short film, communities will come together and play. On this day, the “Day of Play,” children will operate their arcades to raise money to support various local causes, practicing the value of social entrepreneurship. And adults will learn the simple things they can do to foster a child’s creativity.

    Though focused on Los Angeles, the Caine’s Arcade Challenge will coincide with our Global Cardboard Challenge that will take place in 70 countries and serve 1 million children. Our first Global Cardboard Challenge was in 2012 and included a unique range of participants - from a school district in Texas to an Eco-Art Park in Uganda, from Adobe Offices in San Francisco to the Warehouse Project in Sri Lanka. Kids repurposed cardboard into games, toys, robots and spaceships - whatever they could imagine. Along the way they learned about teamwork, problem solving, creativity and the value of recycling. Watch footage from last year’s Challenge at: www.imagination.is/gcc_videos.

    The Caine’s Arcade Challenge will provide thousands of children in Los Angeles a crash course in creativity and social entrepreneurship. 500 teachers will learn effective project-based learning inspired by the Caine’s Arcade story, and thousands of members of the Los Angeles community will come out to play at cardboard arcades built by kids.

    During the Challenge, student participants will be part of a project-based learning environment of unprecedented scale that inspires invention and makes leaning fun. Students will engage in a simple process that develops creativity, and along the way, they will learn: Design Thinking, Math and Financial LIteracy, Engineering, Social Entrepreneurship and the value of Recycling. Where appropriate, all content standards will be aligned to the Common Core.

    Student learning will occur in a uniquely connected environment as children from Los Angeles will have opportunities to showcase their work along with children participating in the Global Challenge in other countries. Some classes will Skype with other classes as far away as Costa Rica, Uganda and Bali. Many of the classes participating in the Challenge will take field trips to the actual Caine’s Arcade site in Boyle Heights for hands-on inspiration and real world connection.

    The Challenge is designed as follows: - A 2-4 week project-based learning curriculum, conducted in the month of September, derived from the “Caine’s Arcade” short film, and aimed at fostering creative thinking and social entrepreneurship. - Field trips to the Caine’s Arcade site in Boyle Heights to enhance the learning experience and inspire participants. - The “Day of Play” on October 5 when children will operate their cardboard arcades and raise money for various local causes. - Professional development for teacher participants during August. - A Caine’s Arcade community website will showcase the Challenges, locate the arcades, and capture an expansive catalogue of content uploaded by Challenge participants.

    About the Imagination Foundation: The mission of the Imagination Foundation is to find, foster and fund creativity and entrepreneurship in children around the world to raise a new generation of innovators and problem solvers who have the tools they need to build the world they imagine.

    We accomplish our mission by building a worldwide movement that celebrates imagination and fosters creativity. To fuel this movement, we produce and amplify inspirational stories of creative children, orchestrate large-scale events, campaigns and challenges, and grow an ecosystem of rich content to equip teachers, parents and communities everywhere with the tools and knowledge they need to develop child creativity.

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