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Riley Rebagliati sticks his hand out through a hole in the painted box.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 where the tickets go. Then Riley pushes a ping-pong ball out there,鈥� Lana Kelenc says, pointing to a round hole in the top corner of the cardboard pinball machine. Suddenly a small white ball pops out the opening and rolls down along the set of cardboard barriers taped onto the slopped face. The ball falls off the edge of the board as Rebagliati tilts the polka-dotted machine up and scrambles out from underneath.听
鈥淚t hurts your neck a lot,鈥� he says, noting the duo鈥檚 game was voted a favourite by students at Stawamus Elementary School, partly because of the surprise element he provides by being the mechanic inside the game.听
The Grade 2, 3, 4 and 5 pupils have been busy recycling cardboard boxes into arcade-style games. By the end of the project, the youths had created 20 pieces, all of which work without electricity. They are fun to play and not too easy, Lana points out.听
The creations were set up at Brennan Park Recreation Centre, where the public was invited to play them. Approximately 50 people turned out, Samuel Stickland says.听
Samuel鈥檚 game mimics air hockey. On top of two boxes, Samuel and his project partner Keegan Deck, 9, built a small rink out of cardboard, making it slick with tape. They cut pucks out of cardboard and made paddles out of two smaller boxes.听
鈥淭aping it was difficult,鈥� the 10-year-old says.听
At the end of the day at Brennan Park, the students had raised $118 from their games. The are donating the money to the seniors living complex at Hilltop House so that residents can buy board games.听
The initiative came about after students watched the documentary about Caine鈥檚 Arcade, Stawamus Grade 4 and 5 teacher Heidi Kubin says. In 2011, the nine-year-old boy became famous after he pieced together a cardboard arcade in his dad鈥檚 used auto parts store in East Los Angeles.听
Besides the fun factor, the project was about creativity and problem solving, she says. Students had to work together and come up with a name and instructions for their game.听
鈥淭he kids were so proud of the games,鈥� she says.听
