More than 100 fifth-grade students at Albany Avenue Elementary School transformed their gym into an elaborate, colorful, cardboard arcade. This was the second year for the event—and a day of absolute fun for the entire school.
The Grade 5 Genius Arcade was originally inspired by a YouTube video called Caine’s Arcade, about a nine-year-old Los Angeles boy named Caine Monroy, who spent his entire 2012 summer vacation dreaming and building an intricate DIY arcade using cardboard boxes from his dad’s auto parts store. The video went viral, inspiring a scholarship fund and the creation of a nonprofit: imagination.org.
Albany Avenue 5th graders were assigned the project in September, giving them four months to create the arcade. Becky Camera, one of the fifth grade teachers who oversaw the project said, “The kids really rose to the occasion, exceeding every expectation.”
Students collected their own cardboard, and worked together in small groups (2-3 pupils per game) to create approximately eleven games per classroom. They began by watching the video, then brainstormed ideas to decide what they wished to create. Next, they learned how to manipulate the cardboard, then painted, decorated, and named their games.
Fifth-grade teacher, Kevin Schwab, who kick-started the arcade after seeing the video, said the project is aligned with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math), and the creation process is modeled after “Genius Hour,” the Google inspired initiative that encourages creativity and allows students the time to explore their own passions. Schwab said, “It really brings the fun back into school.”
Each grade got a time slot to visit the arcade and received a fun pass to play five games. The fifth-graders were on hand to teach the younger students how each game was played—and quite possibly inspired the fourth-graders to think even bigger next year.
To watch the video that inspired it all, visit www.cainesarcade.com.
—Submitted by the
Farmingdale School District
