Leaders In Creative Play Movement To Engage Over 75,000 Kids Across LAUSD and Host Global Cardboard Challenge With Founder of Caine's Arcade

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On October 6, 2018, Imagination.org, Two Bit Circus Foundation and SOHO Impact will bring the Day of Play back to Los Angeles, at TwoBitCircus' Micro Amusement Park™ in Downtown LA. Since 2012, kids across the globe have taken part in the Cardboard Challenge as a way to gear up for Imagination.org's Day of Play. It all began following the overwhelming success of the short film, 'Caine'sArcade', the story of 9-year-old Caine Monroy and his elaborate cardboard arcade. The Day of Play commemorates the flash mob, organized by filmmaker Nirvan Mullick, that came out to make Caine's day in the short film. Educators, parents, kids, all are welcomed to attend this free event. Day of Play runs from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm at Two Bit Circus, located at 634 Mateo Street Los Angeles, CA 90021. For more information, visit https://dayofplay.splashthat.com.  

"Young people today need to be empowered with twenty-first Century skills so they can thrive in an ever changing economy," says Priya Bery, CEO of SOHO Impact "Together with Imagination.org and Two Bit Circus Foundation, we strive to foster these skills to develop makers and leaders like Caine across Los Angeles and around the world."  

Day of Play is an opportunity for communities to come together in big and small ways to celebrate childhood creativity. Caine has been working to elevate his original arcade game design by implementing bricks with cardboard and other recyclables. Caine's game will be revealed on the Day of Play at Two Bit Circus' Micro-Amusement Park!

"We can't wait to see what can be accomplished when three passionate, Los Angeles organizations come together to work toward a common goal," says Leah Hanes, Executive Director of Two Bit Circus Foundation. "The fact that Caine and Nirvan will be attending the event and addressing the young builders makes this a special treat. Caine has gone from a brilliant, creative child to a brilliant, creative young man, and can teach a lot to the next generation of makers."  

Imagination.org, Two Bit Circus Foundation and SOHO Impact, each headquartered in Los Angeles, will work together to foster the development of the next generation of makers and raise awareness around the importance of twenty-first century skills like creativity, communication, collaboration and critical thinking for youth. This exciting alliance will bring brick play to 130 Makerspaces in Title 1 schools across Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), and supply those creative brick play opportunities to 150+ Imagination Chapters in 30 countries while engaging future makers through Imagination's GlobalCardboardChallenge. Together, these groups are cultivating a global movement that will reach over 75,000 youth in the Los Angeles area alone — in addition to the nearly one million kids engaged by the Global Cardboard Challenge over the years.  

With classrooms becoming more standardized, essential opportunities to develop twenty-first century skills aren't being fostered with youth as they should be. According to the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs & Skills, "65 percent of children entering primary school today will ultimately end up working in completely new jobs that don't yet exist." These twenty-first century skills are important to prepare youth for an extremely interconnected, fast moving global community where new industries, disciplines and technologies are rapidly changing, and where adaptability, invention and creativity will be essential for a stronger, more prosperous world tomorrow. 

"It's been awesome to be able to build using the bricks with cardboard. I hope the games I build will continue to inspire other kids to imagine, create and share!" says Caine Monroy, Founder of Caine's Arcade. 

The Global Cardboard Challenge has engaged nearly one million children since 2012. This year, SOHO Impact will take the Challenge to the next level by supplying interlocking bricks to 150+ Imagination Chapter sites worldwide. Through this collaboration, creative storytelling around integrated brick play will be shared and celebrated. As part of this ongoing initiative, youth everywhere are invited to make their own original creations using bricks, cardboard and other mediums. In addition, a mini series of key events will be featured as part of this partnership in select cities. Another highlight of this collaboration will be a research study focusing on twenty-first century skills and the impact creative free play can have on child development, and a featured collection of open-source curriculum to inspire educators around these types of projects, to be unveiled in 2019.

About Imagination.org:
The mission of Imagination.org is to find, foster and fund creativity and entrepreneurship in children around the world to raise a new generation of innovators and problem solvers who have the tools they need to build the world they imagine.

Imagination.org is growing a worldwide movement to promote creativity as a core social value and critical skills for the twenty-first century. Building from the inspiration of 'Caine's Arcade' and the success of the Global Cardboard Challenge, Imagination.org launched its hallmark program called Imagination Chapters. Through its 150+ worldwide chapters, the program uses Creative Play to develop the natural powers of creativity, entrepreneurship and innovation that all children possess while aligning with powerful educational concepts and tools.

For more information about Caine's Arcade and Imagination, visit www.imagination.org. Follow them on Twitter at www.twitter.com/imagination and like them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/imagination.org.            

About Two Bit Circus Foundation:
TwoBitCircus.org is a nonprofit educational organization designed to cultivate the next generation of inventors, advance environmental stewardship and spur community engagement. Combining the inspiration of Two Bit Circus with castoff material from hundreds of manufacturers, our programs help students learn STEAM education and innovation skills while inspiring critical and creative thinking. For more visit http://twobitcircus.org or connect https://www.facebook.com/twobitcircusorg/, https://www.instagram.com/twobitcircusorg/ and https://twitter.com/twobitcircusorg

About SOHO Impact:
SOHO Impact is a private charitable foundation committed to fostering creativity and 21^st Century skills to help communities thrive. SOHO Impact is passionate about cultivating the next generation of makers and leaders through creative play and STEAM related activities. SOHO Impact provides program support to community partners around the world in the form of program funding, donation of interlocking bricks and mentorship. We work in close partnership with Soho Bricks to make bricks available for free play and collaborative building. SOHO Impact was founded in 2017 by Jungju Kim, founder of Korea based gaming company NEXON and is supported by Nexon Foundation, NXC and Soho Bricks. SOHO Impact is headquartered in Los Angeles. For more information please visit www.sohoimpact.org or connect via https://www.facebook.com/sohoimpact/, https://www.instagram.com/sohoimpact/ and https://twitter.com/sohoimpact

Contact:
Mahdis Keshavarz, The Make Agency, +1.425.591.8781, [email protected]  
Allison Heard, 104 West, 703-987-0203, [email protected]

Day of Contact: Priya Bery, CEO, SOHO Impact, 646.709.7050

SOURCE SOHO Impact

Related Links

http://www.sohoimpact.org