Open Design Afrika is hosting several workshops this weekend that will be fun for the whole family; they have included online workshops so people can access them globally.
South Africa (24 June 2021) – This Youth Month, Open Design Afrika, brings you Family Makers Day, a day filled with creative workshops and demonstrations focused on developing future skills for our children and citizens.
A social enterprise and NPO that serves as an international knowledge-sharing platform in Africa, Open Design Afrika (ODA) builds capacity through creativity to develop a culture of future-makers and change-makers.
“We educate, demonstrate and celebrate Africa’s opportunities and global contribution through design-led innovation,” explains Suné Stassen, Co-founder, Custodian and CEO of Open Design Afrika. “At ODA we believe that collaborative, creative intelligence is a superpower. We also believe that every child and citizen should have the right to develop it.”
On Saturday, 26 June, #OpenDesignAfrika Family Makers Day, in partnership with the Western Cape Cultural Affairs and Sports and the V&A Waterfront, will host a series of live and online events. Creative makers from diverse sectors will offer a selection of workshops, dialogues for the youth and demonstrations to children and families globally who are ready to explore, experiment, create and learn through virtual and in-person ‘hands-on’ creative experiences.
“If you expose citizens and children at any age to creative and playful experiences, they develop creative intelligence, which includes empathy, emotional intelligence, problem-solving, working collaboratively and critical thinking,” explains Stassen.
“Family Makers Day provides an opportunity for everyone to experience creative collaboration and the magic of creativity. While creative experiences underpin the concept, we bring knowledge and technology from a variety of sectors to share content that applies across ages and can involve different levels of society.”
The Family Makers Day events are predominantly online to allow global access, with limited live events for locals to attend at the V&A Waterfront.
There is something for everyone in the family: from Captain Fanplastic for the little ones to computer programming for tweens to the more adult-focused personal brand development workshop. Other exciting events on the line-up include My Dream Machine, a design workshop that is part of a global initiative; an Augmented Reality demonstration, which teaches young and old how to create AR experiences; and X-talks for Youth Changemakers, an interactive discussion platform for youth around the world and a fun and engaging workshop inspired by the art and architecture of the Zeitz MOCAA.
Participants need to register to receive the link for online participation for all online events, while bookings are essential for live events as seats are limited due to Covid regulations. However, attendance is free for most online and live events.
The full programme and booking details will be available on Open Design Afrika FB page
Take a look at a few examples we thought you and your children would love!
Captain FanPlastic (5 – 12-year olds) – FREE
10:00 am – 11:00 am: (online) Captain FanPlastic workshop
Join Captain Fanplastic and the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation online from the comfort of your own home for a 1-hour storytelling and craft experience for children.
MATERIALS NEEDED:
- BIG size plastic soda bottle like a 2L Coke bottle
- Box card or any other cardboard
- Scissors, pencil, or anything else to draw with.
- Bottle top and string
- Anything else you can use to decorate and glue or sellotape if you have
- Any other materials you think can be useful. When you are creative, you can never have enough goodies to work and play with.
THE WORKSHOP STRUCTURE:
1 HOUR STORY-TIME AND CRAFT – give and take:
- Meet Captain Fanplastic and watch him tell the story – The Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation team in Cape Town will also join during storytime to delight the children with some of their turtle tales. As Captain Fanplastic’s best friend is Fin, the turtle, you will learn a lot about the marine environment.
- Plastic awareness and easy exercises to understand the value of plastic
- make and decorate your own turtle (the captain’s best friend is a turtle called Fin). Working with used plastic bottles, the captain and his team will show you how to make your very own turtle with waste materials and learn more about turtles from our friends at the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town.
Magic of Augmented Reality (13 years and older) – FREE
10:00 am – 4:00 pm: (online) Learn the Magic of Augmented Reality (AR)! Hosted by Mbangiso “Baso” Mabaso, founder of Sisanda Tech, South Africa.
Join Baso, who will bring Spark-AR augmented reality to YOU – our next generation of Awesome creators! Might you want to learn how to create awesome virtual experiences for your friends or for your clients? This workshop is for any age who wants to learn the basics of AR.
YOU WILL LEARN HOW TO:
- Develop augmented reality experiences with Facebook SparkAR.
- Combine the power of Augmented reality with your imagination to create exciting experiences.
You will:
- Create SparkAr filters
- Work with augmented reality
- Learn basic visual coding
- Optimise, publish, and promote your finished effects
You must have a PC or Laptop. Please install SparkAR software BEFORE you join the workshop on 26 June!
Learn more about the CURIOS world of Sisanda Tech HERE
You will receive the full program once your booking has been confirmed.
Design your Dream Machine (ages 6 – 9) – FREE
11:00 am – 12:00 pm: (online) Design your Dream Machine with MyMachine
Hosted by MyMachine: “SMALL DREAMS = BIG IDEAS!”
Join this exciting STEAM education workshop online, which will develop your child’s imagination and other important future-making skills.
MATERIALS NEEDED:
Paper and anything to draw with. Your child can also give it a shot at building their dream machine during the workshop from any materials that they can find around the house.
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
We invite children aged between 6 years and 9 years to participate in our creative workshop, where they will have the opportunity to invent their own dream machine.
This could be anything, whether it is a new toy, a machine that solves a personal problem, or a machine that solves a global problem. Anything goes as long as the inventor (child) REALLY, really wants it.
PARENTS – Some guidelines if you join us online
Ask your child/ren to…..
- Invent their Dream Machine – anything goes (well…, almost), as long as they really, really want it!
- Make a drawing of it – could be small or big, simple or complicated – let them choose!
- Take a picture of your drawing and upload it – and receive your personalized MyMachine Diploma as a Dream Machine Inventor!
- Mobile photos of the drawings and descriptions to be uploaded to the MyMachine online repository named DreamsDrop – upload your idea in your own language (it doesn’t have to be English)
No matter where you are, you have the opportunity to submit your child’s Dream Machine idea online. A few times a year, international engineers and designers who work closely with MyMachine select several Dream Machine ideas from their online portal and build them. Who knows – your child’s idea can be next.
Below are the submission details:
- Submit the drawing and description of your child’s dream machine to the DreamsDrop portal HERE
- Make sure you include your child’s name and age on the front of the drawing
- A description of the working of their machine at the back of the drawing: what it does and what it is for.
Read more about MyMachine Global HERE