The Mobile Making project aims to provide quality maker-based STEM afterschool experiences with high and low-tech tools to children (grades 4th through 8th) while engaging university students with STEM teaching and learning through service learning courses.

The Participatory Intergenerational Co-Design project involved university students working with children (4th through 8th grade) as equal partners in brainstorming and prototyping solutions to real-world problems at libraries.   

The Play in the Making project supported children (6th through 8th grade) in Making by designing games around real-world problems using the design thinking process in schools and libraries. Students utilized both low and high-tech tools and went through empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test cycles to create games that raise awareness or teach others about a topic they and their communities care about. Parents were also invited to participate in different stages of the design process as informants, co-designers, and user testers to support students’ learning. 

The Play2Connect project designed and implemented a variety of family programming to engage parents and children in intergenerational play around video games. Programming included parent workshops, family gaming events, and afterschool programs at schools, museums, and libraries. 

The Play2Connect Educator Workshops engaged K-12 teachers across different content areas (language arts, math, social studies) in thinking about ways to incorporate video games and game design into the curriculum and building lesson plans to meet standards and students' needs.   

The Family Quest was a 3D immersive role-playing game environment designed to support collaborative family learning experiences for parents and children through real-world problems. The afterschool program supported families to come together at school or afterschool sites in the evenings or Saturdays to play together outside of their home and reflect on their experiences.