Wearable inflatables workshop

[clarahendricks]

Hello PLIX friends! I attempted a wearable inflatables workshop as a Halloween tie-in. I couldn’t convince a critical mass of young people to participate (this is for another topic - how to get buy-in from tweens? This would have been such a fun exploration!)

I myself struggled a bit with putting together some examples, and those who did attend also struggled to make creations that moved in the way that they expected. We experienced a lot of unsealing when blowing, on the seams but especially the diamonds on the inside. I wonder what others have done to remedy this? I’m also thinking maybe using individually-sized chip bags may have been an issue, as it was hard to get enough space for both the diamond shapes to seal AND enough room for the air to go around them.

That said, we were able to make some fairly simple creations. I would love to explore more and find ways to get some more complex types of movement!

[ada]

Hi @clarahendricks,

Sealing the long edges on the chip bags can be very tricky! One thing I’ve tried is those chip bag sealers that look like a little stapler and uses batteries, or there’s also ones that look like hair straightening irons that need to be plugged in. The smaller ones can be a little trickier to use because you need to slowly slide it down the edge.

You can also try the paperflatables remix that does away with the heat part.

I also struggle with making good examples. On the one hand, I wanna have fun with it, but on the other hand, I don’t wanna overdo it with something shiny such that learners feel like they want to copy or do better than the example. Hmmmmmm