Exploring the Miracle of Play: Design Day for Winners of The Miracle Playground Challenge
Inspiring the Next Generation of Thinkers, Innovators, and Designers
Together with The Rube Goldberg® Institute for Innovation & Creativity, Miracle Recreation® hosted The Miracle Playground Challenge—a playground design contest that invited participants of all ages to design their very own playground or play equipment inspired by Rube Goldberg machines.
The Rube Goldberg Institute has been hosting contests for over 40 years, including a world championship event that invites 50,000 students from across the globe to design and build Rube Goldberg machines. From that flagship event—which began with just two fraternities at Purdue University—their contests have expanded to areas such as Minecraft, Unreal Engine, and now, the playground.
“The goal of the contest was to give the entire group of candidates who submitted the opportunity to flex their creative muscle in a super fun, interesting, and relevant way,” said Jennifer George, Creative Director of The Rube Goldberg Institute and granddaughter of Rube Goldberg. “We want to get them actively thinking creatively about not just the world around them, but their place in it.”
The Miracle Playground Challenge Contest Rules, Submissions, and Winners
The Miracle Playground Challenge was divided into two divisions with a junior category (ages 17 and under) and a senior category (ages 18 and up). It saw over 800 submissions from 18 states and 5 countries—including Ukraine, Saudia Arabia, and Germany! People of all ages and skill levels participated, with some being as young as 5 years old and others submitting as well-seasoned professionals.
After narrowing down to the top 10, two entries stood out: Anika Jha, who won the Junior Division, and Brian Moses, who won the Senior Division along with his son Gryffin and wife Lydia.
“Knowing that we have two winners who are younger and seeing the enthusiasm that they were able to put into their creations, it’s very nice to think that there’s that level of thought and knowledge in the younger generation,” said Matthew Nazzaro, Product Manager for Miracle Recreation. “It’ll be great to see what they’re able to turn out in the future.”
Collaborating on Playground Equipment Design
The winners spent a day designing play equipment alongside Miracle Recreation’s new product design team in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. There, they learned step-by-step how a new piece of playground equipment comes to life and participated in the process to create their very own.
“To come to a place like Miracle Recreation and get the tour, see how things are made, meet with the designers, have an exciting experience of a brainstorm session with the creative team…that is an incredible opportunity,” said George.
The day was also a great opportunity for Miracle Recreation’s design team, who helped the winners develop their designs to make them as rewarding and fun as possible for users.
“It’s really fun to have some outsiders coming in, seeing the process, asking questions, and really experiencing it with us,” said Lauren Menezes, Industrial Product Designer for Miracle Recreation. “Just hearing them talk about their ideas and their playground thoughts has really inspired us.”
Once finalized, the resulting play equipment from the collaboration will be created and installed for a worthy community.
Making Playground Ideas a Reality
Don’t want to wait? Bring Rube-inspired play to your community today! Contact your local representative to get started.