[arg_discuss] ARGs for children?

[Alex Jarvis]

I can recall as a child my Kindergarten class was told of a Leprechaun had
entered the school and that it was  our job to catch him- there were
footprints, candy, and all sorts of non-linear activities - they basically
let us loose on the entire school. I was the kid who found him hiding in the
nurses office, due to all the clues that we collected ( we being my then
troupe of would be detectives). It was never a game, in fact I recall it
starting out with one of the teachers running in the room saying "He's
loose! The little green man is loose!"  Who knew my early teachers would be
so well versed in ARG and Ludic theory :)

I find that in alot of arenas in life, the TINAG logic crosses over with
common events, such as Michelle's charming elmo story ( I had to play as
spongebob for a cousin of mine- as well as "doctor" when her doll "got
sick") and I am incredibly interested in this kind of research... I suppose
a place where reality and nonreality intertwine so fluidly (like childhood!)
would be a great place to start!

-Alex

On 6/29/07, varin <varineq at gmail.com> wrote:

>

> I think it's hard to lump all of those years "under 14" together.  A five

> year old and a 14 year old are very, very different. ;)  I think with the

> pre-teens or tweens, you might have to be a bit more careful, but like a

> few

> others have said we already have established alternate realities for our

> younger children.  My five year old believes in Santa, fairies and wishing

> wells.  Two years ago my daughter was *dying* to talk to Elmo, so I called

> up my husband at work and asked to speak to Elmo (he does a decent Elmo

> impression).  She absolutely believed she was talking to the real

> Elmo...and

> my husband never heard the end of it at work.  ;)  We went to Disney last

> spring and she really believed she was meeting Cinderella and Belle,

> although she did look a little skeptical at times when meeting the

> characters in the furry costumes.  She was still able to suspend belief

> though ;)

>

> Imagination, pretend play, dress up and daydreaming are important steps in

> a

> child's early development.  They get to learn about emotions and

> experiment

> with problem solving (along with a ton of other benefits you can learn

> about

> with a little googling).  Alot of kids these days are spending more time

> in

> front of the television (passive entertainment) and less time using their

> own imagination to entertain themselves.  I remember when I was a kid, I

> had

> to wait until Saturday morning to see cartoons.  Now they're on

> practically

> 24/7!   Could ARGs for children bridge the gap between passive television

> and imagination play?

>

> With the tweens it might be important to have a thinner curtain, but with

> the little ones I think you could most definitely have a thick

> curtain.  Of

> course, most children that young aren't going to hop on the internet and

> sign themselves up for an Elmo ARG.  Their parents are going to sign them

> up

> and, in a way, step behind-the-curtain with the puppetmasters.

>

> This is a subject I'm very much interested in.  I've been working on a

> personal project in my free time (heh! free time?) that while I hesitate

> to

> call it a full-blown children's ARG, you could say it has many ARGish

> elements.

>

> Michelle Senderhauf

>

>

>

>

> ----- Original Message -----

> From: <despain at quantumcontent.com>

> To: "Discussion list of the IGDA ARG SIG" <arg_discuss at igda.org>

> Sent: Friday, June 29, 2007 10:59 AM

> Subject: [arg_discuss] ARGs for children?

>

>

> > Speaking of curtains and magic circles, have any of you done an ARG

> > intended for an audience under 14 years old?

> >

> > In education circles, they stress the importance of clearly delineating

> > fact from fiction for children. Yet when children play together reality

> is

> > a very malleable space. Fiction and reality stand side by side.

> >

> > Do you suppose a thick or thin curtain would be better for this

> audience?

> >

> > Wendy Despain

> > quantumcontent.com

>

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-- 
Alex Jarvis
Ludology Student
http://ludologistjarvi.blogspot.com/