„Play is the highest form of research“ – said Albert Einstein, who thus aptly describes what action-oriented learning also aims for: to playfully awaken creativity, open up new perspectives and thus enable discovery-based learning.
In this spirit, on July 17th and 18th, 2025, educational professionals from Brandenburg and Berlin immersed themselves in the world of play together in the jumblr practical qualification „Discovering Play Spaces“.
Discovering play spaces together
Paper airplanes competed with AI-generated images, classic board games met innovative game ideas: in the collaborative project of lmb At wannseeFORUM, participants experienced a varied program, in which they were guided step by step from Participants as co-creating contributors The games presented ranged from short warm-up games and card games to complex gameplay. Whether indoors, outdoors, or digitally: all types of games were not only presented but, above all, tried out – and the question was always there: How can these approaches be directly implemented in (media) education work with young people?
Day 1: Input and Inspiration
The first day featured presentations from Annette Ullrich (wannseeFORUM) and Isgard Walla (lmb eV.) in focus: on the one hand, the general Learning potential of games and the "rulers" who determine a game, on the other hand digital game formats like jumblr-Tours, a game app for youth work in Brandenburg that enables a playful exploration of topics such as sustainability or artificial intelligence. This was complemented by playful forms of testing and reflecting on AI at the wannseeFORUM.
Day 2: Exchange and collaborative learning
The second day, held in a Barcamp format, focused on peer exchange and playful learning from one another. A digital companion pad documented all the games and methods, allowing the content to be used beyond the workshop. The mix of active methods, practical exercises, and open discussion and reflection ensured that all participants left with a wealth of methodological tools and renewed motivation.
reflecting on games as learning tools
In extracurricular cultural and civic youth education, free play and playful methods play a central role. Whether in analog form – such as card or board games – or in digital game formats: they open up new possibilities. Approaches to learning objectives such as team building, inspiration for creative work, action-oriented experimentation and knowledge transfer – and always in a fun way. Therefore, specific topics were always discussed. Potential applications in practical educational work.
Freedoms and rules
Play creates spaces for diverse activities Learning methods that promote creativity and new perspectives enable. At the same time, games create a framework of clear rules, the adherence to and reflection of which can be understood not only in the game itself, but also as a symbol for social processes and individual responsibility.
Even the Game development The process itself can become a method for engaging with the content. This is how it was also possible for... Games developed by young people in the wannseeFORUM These will be tried out. Possibilities for game development workshops for young people were also discussed.
Continue playing
Continue playing
With such a wide range of games and their associated learning opportunities, time flew by and the desire for further training on the topic grew, because "Playing is an activity that can never be taken seriously enough." (Jacques-Yves Cousteau)
