Nature of the Game Exhibition Rental

This brand new, innovative and interactive exhibit, which features a collection of larger-than-life outdoor games, will:

• Increase attendance due to its game-based entertainment value.
• Strengthen your garden’s relationships with donors, patrons, and community.
• Draw new visitation.
• Demonstrate the balance, beauty, and connections in nature.
• Encourage children and adults alike to get outside, visit your garden, and have fun through the engagement value of these games.

Celebrate ecology through play with a new collection of larger-than-life outdoor games. This series puts an ecological and artistic spin on familiar favorites, from oversized tile puzzles to gorgeous hidden picture sculptures to giant food web chess and more. Visitors will have fun playing games that demonstrate the balance, beauty, and connectedness of nature.

If you are interested in leasing this exhibit, submit a request form.

Or contact Ed Lyon, Director of Reiman Gardens, at 515-294-6212 or eslyon@iastate.edu.

View the leasing information which includes additional details and images.

Scavenger Hunt: inspired by I-SPY or scavenger hunt – Visitors can explore different biomes in the United States and learn about the plants and animals that live within those biomes by searching for certain images within each piece.

 

 

Food Web Chess: inspired by chess – Chess has been played since ancient times and is one of the few truly international games. This version of chess includes a twist where the pieces represent animals from different parts of the food chain. Once the game starts, one goes through multiple food chains and creates a food web, illustrating the interconnectivity of nature.

 

Cause and Effect: inspired by a sliding tile puzzle – Tile puzzles are often used in the form of small hand held mechanisms that usually depict an image, phrase, or ordered number set when completed. The puzzle pieces slide up, down, and side to side within the frame of the device. These large-scale sliding tile puzzles draw connections between different biomes and their biggest threats. There are two different difficulty levels for different ages. The double sides create the cause-and-effect component of the game. Once one side is completed, the other side is scrambled. When one biome is fully visible, its threat is diminished, and vice versa.

 

BEEd Maze: inspired by a bead maze – Bead mazes offer simple amusement to children as they push small beads around twisted and interwoven metal rods. Visitors can experience this simple toy in human scale with an educational component!  The BEEd maze illustrates the process of pollination while acting as a toy. The twisted poles are arranged in different shapes and heights. Bees will be pushed around the system as they “pollinate”. The BEEd Maze is scaled to be used by all ages, but especially toddlers and young children.

 

Connect Food: inspired by Connect 4 – In Connect Food, one player is a moth and the other is a butterfly.  Each player has to align four of their own disks, and each disk has an imprint of either host plant, caterpillar, adult butterfly, or nectar (food) plant. In order for the player to win, he/she has to align all four needs of their moth or butterfly (in any order).

 

Dice Sculpture – A large-scale sculptural piece relative to game playing – this ubiquitous game piece is a visual that the exhibit is game-themed!