After receiving the Next Library Changemaker Award, Craft, Play, Share at Multiplo Centro Culturale Cavriago in Italy has been exploring how libraries can foster creativity, collaboration, and environmental awareness through hands-on activities for children.
Two Main Directions: Games and Crafts
So far, the project has followed two main paths:
Game design workshops – creating new board games from old, worn-out games that the library was about to discard.
Crafting labs – using recycled materials to make toys, devices, and decorations.
Inventing New Games
The game design workshops took place across three summer afternoons, involving children aged 4–13. Participants worked individually, in small groups, or with the help of accompanying adults to invent their own board games in a playful, collaborative environment.
The project concluded with a playtesting afternoon in November, part of the library’s International Games Month. The “made-in-Multiplo” board games were displayed on tables with written instructions, so anyone could stop, play, and explore. The games remain in the library’s collection, ready to be used in future events.
Crafting, Experimenting, and Sustainability
During 10 crafting sessions, children transformed everyday materials into imaginative creations:
- Toilet paper tubes → airplanes
- Broken CDs → bird deterrents
- Paper tubes → Hobbit houses
- Corks → Christmas trees
These sessions encouraged children to experiment, invent, and play in cooperative and imaginative ways. They also prompted reflection on environmental sustainability, showing that even small creative habits — like reusing objects — can make a difference.
Gallery: Craft, Play, Share
