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Last week, we had a great time making maps with kids! 19 kids attended the first Stroly workshop at KidsFest in Christchurch, New Zealand. If you’ve missed the event or couldn’t make it, here is the recap of the highlights!
The event took place on the 15th of July at Te Hāpua: Halswell Centre. The kids challenged themselves on making illustrations of their future, created a future map of Christchurch Botanic Gardens, and shared their maps on Stroly.
Brainstorming and Sketching
In the first part of our workshop, each child was given a card with a different mission to complete. Their task was to illustrate future vehicles, animals, flowers and plants, flags, fashion, islands, and other elements that they can apply to their future maps. Everyone came up with imaginative and innovative ideas which were truly inspiring to look at.
Creating Maps of the Future
In the second part of the workshop, we explored what our future would look like in 100 years. We have preselected an area the kids can all illustrate on – the Botanic Gardens – an iconic place in Christchurch. It was amazing to see how the kids responded to reimagining the gardens, using colour pencils, pens and craft papers. Some kids used our downloadable illustration pack to enhance their future maps. A lot of kids wanted to see even more nature in the space, more animals, plants, flowers, and colours.
They all had intriguing stories to tell. Their maps showed a world of creativity. For example, a sunflower tower with a cafe on top, food factories, and a life-size koi fish pond with bubble submarines.
(Flower Hills)
(Rainbow World)
All the maps were shared on Stroly and we strolled on our maps online. A couple of kids took us on a unique tour on their maps using our new map viewer, and we adults got thrilled to even find a wine tasting place on one of the maps. We all had an awesome time learning about map making, feeling inspired and making new friends!
A huge thank you to everyone who attended our first map making workshop. We would love to see you again at KidsFest next year!
