Getting Creative with Fundama

This past spring, Flow Circus created Fundama. Cheap and easy DIY skill toys that can be created using basic supplies like paper cups, masking tape, and string. The Play Fundama site includes instructional videos and activity ideas for teachers, librarians, and summer camp staff to engage children, tweens, and teens in creative play. We were thrilled in October when we received the following email from Mary Alice Hudson at Cape Fear Elementary in Rocky Point, NC:

I have been doing a Fundama Club with 25 5th graders at my school.  We meet once a week for 50 minutes and we have the best time!  They absolutely LOVE making and playing with the toys.  I am so glad I found your fantastic program and website!  So far we've made the basic, freestyle, six and twist.  They are really excited about the ladder and plan to make Paul's party before making their own parties.  Our final goal is to go on our school's morning show and show off our toys and talent.   Thank you so much for this great resource. We're having a wonderful time!

After making several of the fundama designs that we had come up with, the students finally had a chance to design their own. We couldn't make the trip out to Rocky Point to see them in person, but we were able to set up a Skype session with the class so they could share their fundama with us. We were impressed by the designs and the fun names the students came up with such as the Rocket Ship, the Maze, and the Whatever. You can see a video of the different designs on the school's website. After they each had a chance to showcase their work, Paul played a game of "Six" with a few of them and answered questions about how he came up with the idea for fundama.

The best part? Ms. Hudson created programming for 10 sessions for less than $20. As she said, you can't beat that! But I think the fundama experience was best expressed by a student in a thank you note he wrote:

I think it's so cool that you make Fundama. They're fun, cool, and weird at the same time. I am so glad that I never missed a day of this club. You're sooooooo cool and when I grow up I'm going to invent something like you.