This week we got the chance to escape from the office and play a little at The Play Conference 2016 hosted by UNICEF, Cotlands, and the Department of Education. We were there to capture the three day event using our new graphic recording program called DigiCap. This is Capture it, Live Drawing Events- 2.0. Here our artists use a digital drawing tool to illustrate key information from the speakers and events while they are happening. The Drawing tool is connected to a projector allowing the speakers and delegates to watch as their words and actions come to life.
The delegates were mainly young and enthusiastic teachers working in the Early Childhood Development (ECD) sector. This was definitely one of the most passionate groups we have worked with. They sang and danced and PLAYED to their hearts content, paying no attention to the made-up rules which dictate how an adult is expected to behave.
“Play labs” were set up around the venue encouraging delegates to return to the freedom of childhood. Games of hopscotch, bowling, twister, and giant snakes and ladders all reminding them of what it was like to be a kid again.
The speakers shared their knowledge on the importance of play in early childhood development. They encouraged the ECD teaches to use play as a fundamental part of their teaching method reinforcing the notion of play as the language of childhood.
One of the main lessons our team at Conceptual Eyes have recently learnt is that in order to make an innovative idea or a concept materialise we need to constantly think on our feet, to come up with original ideas or solutions which help summarise and solve complex problems. We are able to do this by consulting team mates, working out strategies, and taking risks.
These qualities were not memorized from a book in a class room or lecture hall, they were learnt in the playground. It was through the silliness and absurdity of our made up worlds that creativity and ingenuity were discovered and developed. Adult life remains a game albeit a more complex one.
As Roald Dahl so aptly argues “A little nonsense now and then is cherished by the wisest men.”
Thanks to Unique Speaker Bureau for the Referral.