9-year-old Caine Monroy spent his summer vacation building an elaborate cardboard arcade inside his dad’s used auto parts store. The entire summer went by, and Caine had yet to have a single customer. Then, on the last day of summer, a filmmaker named Nirvan stopped to buy a door handle for his car. Caine asked Nirvan to play, and Nirvan bought a $2 FunPass, becoming Caine’s first customer. Inspired by Caine’s creativity, Nirvan came back to make a short film about Caine’s Arcade and organized a flashmob to surprise Caine with lots of customers. Watch the movie to see what happened, and then watch “Caine’s Arcade Part 2? below to see what happened next.
Watch “Caine’s Arcade 2: From a Movie to a Movement”
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Now it is your turn to imagine and create a game that you would like to build for your very own classroom or school wide arcade!
Think of a game idea you would like to create. Draw your idea. Label the drawing so you will know what you need. Plan. Do. Review. You can use, cardboard, tape and 20% recyclable materials for your game project. Start saving and collecting cardboard boxes, shoe boxes, gift boxes, paper towel rolls, egg crates, etc. You may not buy anything to add to your cardboard arcade game. Simple projects may take a few hours while others may take days or weeks. As projects become harder and more advanced, your brain may get tired and want to give up. Problem solve, talk about what is working and what is not working. Be optimistic. Your brain will get stronger! You will learn to solve problems and you will tackle real-world issues.
Here is some advise from Caine. 5 Lessons (on a Barf Bag) for Entrepreneurs
- Be nice to customers.
- Do a business that is fun.
- Do not give up. (Caine circled and underlined this one three times)
- Start with what you have.
- Use recycled stuff.
Remember, “I am stronger than this challenge and this challenge is making me stronger!” So… Strap on your thinking caps and get ready to make something spectacular out of cardboard! Have Fun!
Teachers, take individual photos of the classroom arcade. Use Pic Collage or Pic Monkey to stitch the images together. Mash SoundCloud and Thinglink with six easy steps as described in our previous post, Who Are You. Ask students to describe their arcade game and persuade others to play their game.
Invite other classes and/or parents to play the games!
Resources:
- Here is a link to some Curriculum and Activity Kits created by educators who have been using Caine’s Arcade to teach STEM/STEAM
- Read more about Caine’s Arcade and how you can support the Imagination Foundation to help more kids like Caine!
