It’s stuff like that that reminds me why I have the best job ever.
Just for fun, a group of our summer TechTeens at the California Academy of Sciences created different variations on the popular kids game “Ninja” (or “Ultimate Ninja”). It started as a lunchtime activity to get them physically interacting and playing, and morphed into an integral part of the camp.
It was fun watching them take the game, remix it, test out different variations, discuss / debate the results, and then create a newer, better version. They basically took the design process and principles that we taught them during the camp (ideate-prototype-iterate-reflect) and applied them during their lunch break to re-design a popular game into something even more awesome, and had a blast doing it.
The video includes three of their favorite “Ninja” variations that they demoed on the last day of the SIASI14 program. There were several more versions that they came up with that didn’t make the cut (rimshot!).
Enjoy!
BTW, here’s another rule set that differs the version the kids played, and the Wikipedia entry that details other varieties.