Playing with Rigamajig
Published 4:11 pm Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Dawn Burleigh/The Orange Leader
Dawn Burleigh/The Orange Leader
Dawn Burleigh/The Orange Leader
Dawn Burleigh/The Orange Leader
Dawn Burleigh/The Orange Leader
Dawn Burleigh/The Orange Leader
Dawn Burleigh/The Orange Leader
Children countywide benefit from new Salvation Army gift
By Dawn Burleigh
The Orange leader
Rigamajig is a collection of wooden planks, wheels, pulleys, nuts, bolts,and rope allows children to follow their curiosity through play. Engaging the inquisitive mind and creative spirit, Rigamajig empowers children to think three dimensionally, building things larger than themselves. Rigamajig Basic Builder is ideal for classrooms, children’s museums and groups of children learning and playing collaboratively. The solid wood ¾-inch thick planks range from 12-inch-44-inch, allowing children to build things larger than themselves.
Salvation Army unveiled the new tool on Tuesday as the children watched in amazement.
The project is in partnership with Rebuild Texas Fund and KaBOOM!
The Rebuild Texas Fund was created by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, in collaboration with the OneStar Foundation. The Rebuild Texas Fund is a totally separate effort from the Governor’s Commission to Rebuild Texas and the Texas General Land Office Texas Rebuilds housing initiative, but the efforts do work in parallel to bring the power of public and private contributions to the long-term rebuilding efforts across Texas, according to its official website.
KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to ensuring that all kids get a childhood filled with the balanced and active play needed to thrive, according to its official website.
“This is something for us to share with everyone in the county,” Salvation Army Capt. Jan Zuniga said. “We want everyone to have a chance to play. This helps them use their minds.”
Salvation Army is seeking partnerships with Campfire, school districts and churches so all the children within the community can enjoy Rigamajig.
“We want to make this known to the public,” Zuniga said.
Only 35 locations were selected to receive a playground or Rigamajig.
“We want to send them a thank you card from all of us,” Zuniga said.
The cost for the Rigamajig received is $3,500.
The first project for the children was to accept Zuniga’s challenge to build an object with wheels and movable so it could move from one line to another while carrying a full glass of water without losing a drop.
The children quickly began planning and working while each of the three teams had an adult to assist.
