School of Fun for Children in Fukushima

Please find a Japanese version of this report here.

On September 3 and 4, Academy Camp exhibited at Maker Faire Tokyo 2022 held in the Tokyo Bay Area. It was the first time in three years that we exhibited in person at the event. A total of 12 Academy Camp children, parents and staff members participated as "makers" (exhibitors). Unfortunately, there was no in-person participation from Fukushima, but there were those who participated online. There were also friends who visited the event.

This year, following last year's online exhibit, "Academy Camp VR" was displayed. We demonstrated four virtual reality worlds that we have created with children: "Lunar Society," "Exploration of Life on Europa, a Satellite of Jupiter," "Cells and Immunity World," and "Unprecedented World." The last world is still in the process of creation, but we incorporated some new features to realize the children's ideas to demonstrate at this exhibition.

Many children who visited the event were riveted by our Minecraft and VR constructions and adventures. Our young makers were very inspired as they looked around at the work of other makers. The parents told us that they could sense the fun and tremendous energy of the people making what they want to make.

The reason why Academy Camp values this annual event is because we want the participating children to become makers, not visitors to society. That is why we think this event is one of the best opportunities where children can communicate with visitors, wearing the exhibitor tag that says "maker". So, what kind of makers will they be next year?

PLEASE HELP US LITTLE BY LITTLE

GlobalGiving holds the September 2022 Little by Little Campaign from September 12 to 16 (EDT). All eligible donations up to $50 per unique donor per organization will be matched at 50% during the campaign! Please take this great opportunity to help further the children in Fukushima, those in the rest of Japan, and Academy Camp.

Links:

• Academy Camp Facebook page in English

Please find a Japanese version of this report here.

We took advantage of the August holiday period in Japan to once again hold a VR (virtual reality) camp. Following the success of the pilot version at the July camp, this time we tried in earnest to design treasure eggs together, hide them together, and search for them together in this camp we called "Search for Unprecedented Eggs!" Sixteen children from all over Japan participated, ranging from the second graders to a technical college student who helped us as a subleader.

After touring the Unprecedented World they have created so far, the children immediately set about designing their own eggs. They design not only what the eggs look like, but what would happen when they find and "Use" them. The pace of writing on the online whiteboard was slow at first, but once the children actually started creating the appearance of the eggs in 3D, they seemed to come up with more and more wacky ideas, such as a black egg that would generate a mini black hole that only attracts sushi when used. This was a three-day camp, so we did not get to put that kind of behavior on the eggs, but in any case, we have always taken six months or so to get our VR world to the point of completion. So the production will continue.

The adults expected 2-3 eggs to be created and hidden, but in the end, the children designed and hid a total of 23 eggs in the world, and the number may increase a little more in the future.

Since the hiding places of the eggs were decided by the three teams, on the last day, the teams played a game of egg-hunting against each other. The detailed rules for the game were also proposed by everyone while playing. It was not a camp where we made a plan and followed it to the letter, but we believe that the children were able to fully demonstrate their creativity through this camp because we did not have to decide on anything too much.

Links:

• Academy Camp Facebook page in English