How We Use the Toolkit
In the first few years, the team experimented with the length and format of summer Think Tank sessions: some were 2-3 days; some were a week long; others were two weeks. Some were partial days, and others were full days. The team also explored after-school sessions during the school year. They settled on a different format for summer sessions and school year sessions. Each session recruits participants for a specific grade level range, such as 3rd to 5th grade, 6th to 8th grade, and 9th to 12th grade.
Summer Sessions
The in-person Think Tank sessions are held at the Learning Games Lab. Due to transportation issues and other extracurricular activities, the team settled on weeklong sessions offered in the mornings or afternoons during the summer. This format allowed youth the freedom to engage in other summer activities and matched the common “weeklong” approach used in other summer camps.
Within the weeklong Think Tanks, the team determined to offer 4 hours with a break at the halfway point each day. This timeframe helped prevent burnout from the youth and allowed them to deeply engage in the session’s content. A total of 20 hours per session gave participants the chance to become acclimated to the lab and each other, test a product in development at our studio, evaluate existing games, and engage in a design activity (e.g., create a stop-motion movie, sketch titles screen, etc.).
Due to statewide stay-at-home orders caused by the COVID pandemic, our team implemented fully online sessions in the summer of 2020 and 2021. The team modified the time per day to 2 hours and allowed a little more flexibility with daily breaks. Whether through online or in-person participation, youth become “Game Lab Consultants” to test products in development.
School Year Sessions
Game Lab Consultants are often invited to return to the lab to join us for 1 to 2 day sessions throughout the year. For these sessions, consultants along with other youth engage gameplay, one or more activities, and product testing.