The project and event was called Caine’s Arcade, in honor of Caine Monroy who popularized the concept when he made a cardboard arcade at nine years old. All seven groups of Amber McMullen’s third graders got to show off their creations, with the last group doing so on Monday.

Students were able to create whatever game they wanted, with different objectives and inspiration to choose from as long as they could do it with cardboard. With this project, McMullen said the students get to experience the entire engineering and design process.

“They get their inspiration, they sit down with their team, and they plan,” she said. “They have to work with their group, get along with each other, listen to everybody’s ideas, and weigh out the costs and the benefits of doing it every single different way. Then they get to building.”

McMullen said a crucial part of this project is the freedom the students have.

Blake Simonette grabs a Jolly Rancher after playing a cardboard arcade game at the Jefferson Elementary third graders cardboard arcade.

“There are so many restrictions on most of the things we have to do in the classroom on a regular basis,” she said. “Time isn’t as big of a deal when it comes to this project as others because if we need to add an extra day, that’s okay.”

The project has been a huge hit since McMullen took over in the Fall of 2020. She said now the kids know it’s coming and look forward to it every year. She said the reactions she got the first time still stick out to this day.

“I remember watching the Caine’s Arcade video for inspiration,” McMullen said. “After the video was done, I let them sit a little bit in silence because it’s a very inspirational story. They took a deep breath and one of them said ‘Do we get to do this?’ They were so excited.”

Teamwork is another big part of this assignment. McMullen said it’s also one many students find challenging.

“It’s just child development,” she said. “They are very egocentric at this age and starting to come out of it. Learning to work with people is a huge skill they need to have and they’re developing now so they can use it for the rest of their lives.”

Piper Polich hopes her shot rings true, as it could mean the difference between getting or not getting a Jolly Rancher.

Cash Burt and Gavin Haynes worked in different groups, which created cardboard versions of basketball and soccer. Haynes said in soccer if you were able to shoot the ball into the hole, you won a Jolly Rancher. You could win up to three Jolly Ranchers at Burt’s basketball game, depending on how many shots out of five you sank.

Both agreed with McMullen that working with others could be challenging, especially if others didn’t take it seriously. Haynes said he enjoyed having fun, even when the going got tough.

“We just try to make everything fun,” he said. “Even when they feel like it’s not gonna be fun we try to make it fun. When we turned down an idea it’s not that we hated it, we could make something else.”