The development of the Imagination Place! Resource Guide continues to be informed by educators facilitating clubs with young people in libraries (see Libraries for the Future (LFF) for additional information), community centers, and schools. Although specifically developed for informal settings, the information contained in this guide has applications across a range of settings including:

• in-school and after school programs
• at home, family sessions
• other informal settings that aim to encourage and support girls' and boys' technological imagination.

Goals of the Imagination Place! Resource Guide

This resource guide aims to help educators and parents to:

• Foster girls' and boys' technological imagination through on-line puzzles and interactive activities that help them see everyday technology as "designed" objects;
• Help girls and boys to design and invent imaginative devices that have personal meaning;
• Provide opportunities for girls and boys to interact with their peers around collaborative design-based projects;
• Enable girls and boys to discuss their perspectives on, concerns about, and issues with technological design in society;
• Access design-based activities that can be done with everyday materials.

The Imagination Place! in KAHooTZ Environment

KAHooTZ is an online environment created by the Australian Children's Television Foundation (ACTF). KAHooTZ is a secure, members-only internet area for children. Imagination Place!, is a channel on KAHooTZ. To access Imagination Place!, children first sign on to KAHooTZ, using their own password and user name. Within Imagination Place!, children use KAHooTZs' powerful design, animation, text, and sound tools to create and manipulate their designs and to communicate with other young designers.

Imagination Place! in KAHooTZ consists of three main components, two additional components, as well as "Intros" to and "Previews" of the three main components.

When children discover the Wacky World of Whatchamacallits,one of three main online components, they investigate the design of both familiar objects and futuristic technology through online puzzles, games, and activities. The focus of this area is on helping children expand their imaginations as they view everyday objecs in new ways, think about how things work -- and why design matters.

When children get on the Word Wavethey use KAHooTZ's innovative chat environment and mail to discuss their designs with peers and guest professionals.

When children invent in the Design Xchange they "x-press" their design ideas using the powerful KAHooTZ animation, sound, and graphic tools. They create and market new products, such as the "talking watch" that promises you'll never be late again.

Tips & Tricks
This area is an opportunity to look "under the hood" of the KAHooTZ suite of tools. Through examples, it is possible to discover how to use draw and animation tools to create Xpressions, how to name the stuff made so that others can find it, and other strategies for working in the KAHooTZ environment.

News Flash
Find out the latest in Imagination Place! in KAHooTZ.

Intros and Previews
Intros and Previews exist for each of the core areas of Imagination Place! They help set the tone and give an idea of the kinds of activities to expect in the Wacky World of Whatchamacallits, Word Wave, and Design Xchange.

How to Use This Guide

This guide is not intended as a lesson plan or "how to" guide. The sequences suggested represent possible paths through the material. How suggested workshop activities are organized and presented, ultimately, must be decided by the design club leader, based on his/her unique understanding of a particular group of participants and on the unique circumstances of the site. Each workshop has a theme expressed in its title. To guide you through each workshop meeting, you'll find:

• What's the Point?--An explanation of the objectives for a particular workshop. 
• What You'll Need--A list and/or description of necessary materials for activities.
• What to Do--A sequenced outline of activities and discussion ideas to engage participants in thinking about and analyzing design in preparation for -- or, in support of their work with Imagination Place! in KAHooTZ
• Working with Imagination Place! in KAHooTZ-- Suggestions for engaging in online Imagination Place! activities which include puzzles and games to play, and chats and discussions in Imagination Place's three core activity areas: Word Wave, Design X-change, & Wacky World of Whatchamacallits . 
• KAHooTZ Help / KAHooTZ Tech Tips-- Suggested topics from KAHooTZ online help as well as online sessions about the "ins" and "outs" of the KAHooTZ environment.
• Design Notebooks--Each student's Design Notebook / Folder represents a portfolio of work and a place for participants to make notes and sketches, and "play around" with ideas. It is where participants can reflect on activities and concepts introduced, and where they can complete related work.
• Just Between Us -- Points for you to consider, tips, and strategies as participants work with a particular topic or task.
• Resources -- Related books, websites and other materials that club leaders can draw on, including ideas for extending students' work with a particular topic or theme -- sometimes with Imagination Place! in KAHooTZ; sometimes without.

Tips and Strategies

Imagination Place! allows participants to become designers of machines born of their imaginations and expressive of their own ideas and fantasies. A major consideration for your use of Imagination Place! in KAHooTZ is the availability of computers. You may need to consider having participants work in pairs or small groups. Or you might need to consider managing on-line and off line activities simultaneously. For example, while some participants work on sketches of their personal symbols in their notebooks, others could be designing personal icons in the Imagination Place! KAHooTZ environment. After a predetermined length of time, they then switch places. Most important is creating an inviting setting where design and invention ideas can percolate. Below are several tips to consider when creating design clubs. 

• Give participants plenty of time to "fool around'' with Imagination Place! Encourage them to experiment, to try things.
• Fill the room with tools, gadgets, machines (working and nonworking), pieces, parts, materials, nuts and bolts, found objects. Also, to the extent possible, make "building" materials available (e.g., Tinker Toys, Erector sets, Lego). Encourage your participants to use these items to build things, to try out ideas, to "tinker"--an age-old pleasure too often reserved for boys and men.
• Whenever possible, encourage participants to take things apart--a clock, a toy, a broken typewriter, anything!
• Find examples of design wherever you can and share them with your participants. Invite them to do the same. Bring in something you love just for its design. Cover the walls with examples of graphic design, with pictures of "designed" things -- everything ranging from clothes to houses to hairstyles to cars to computers to CD boxes. Have children contribute to these collections.
• Make available books that offer good visuals of interior and exterior of devices, that offer examples of inventors that include women and people of color.