To build a school with trampoline hallways

Active Spaces

You’ve chosen to imagine a school where hallways double as places to bounce, move, and play. You might want to learn more about active spaces, which could encourage movement and build well-being into places we use every day. But be careful; your teacher may need a “no bouncing into class” rule!

Fun Facts:

Simon Langton School in England has special hallway tiles that turn students’ footsteps into electricity for lights.
George Nissen built an early trampoline prototype in 1934 after watching circus performers bounce on safety nets.
The LEGO House in Billund, Denmark has indoor spaces where visitors build, move, experiment, and play instead of simply walking through exhibits.

Active Spaces

LISTEN

We spend lots of our school day moving from place to place. What if our hallways helped us move, play, and feel good? Active spaces build movement into places we already use each day. Some schools even use floors that make electricity from our steps. Future hallways could help our bodies while serving another purpose, too. But be careful; your teacher may need a “no bouncing into class” rule!

Fun Facts:

George Nissen created an early trampoline with his gymnastics coach in 1934. He later received a patent for his “tumbling device” in 1945.
During World War II, trampolines were used in some military and aviation training programs. Bouncing helped them practice controlling their bodies in the air.
Simon Langton School in England installed 24 kinetic tiles in a school corridor. Students’ footsteps help power lights.
The Iowa Children’s Museum has an interactive floor where kids can jump, dance, and move their bodies to control projected games beneath their feet.
The City Museum in St. Louis has tunnels, slides, climbing structures, and caves built throughout a former shoe factory, turning the building itself into a place for movement and exploration.

Discussion Question:

If hallways became places for movement and play, how could we make sure they stay safe, too?

LISTEN

Physical Build:

Design a hallway that does more than help people get somewhere. Use cardboard, paper, craft sticks, string, sponges, and other materials to build a model with places to bounce, balance, stretch, or move. Add one feature that uses all that movement for another purpose, like making electricity.

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Digital Build:

With an adult, ask ChatGPT:

“Imagine five ways a school hallway could help kids move and play.”

Choose your favorite idea, then change it to make it your own. Draw your new hallway and show how kids would move through it.

or a school with disco floor hallways that light up with every step?

Disco Hallways

Sensory Spaces

LISTEN

You’ve chosen to imagine a school where the hallways fill with changing lights and music as you walk. You might want to learn more about sensory spaces, which use things like light, sound, and color to shape how a place feels. Who says Monday morning is too early for a hallway dance party?

Fun Facts:

Sonic Forest, created by artist Christopher Janney, has been installed in public spaces using tall columns containing lights, speakers, and motion sensors. Walking between the columns can trigger changing sounds and visual effects.
Researchers found that some children could recognize calm, scary, and sad feelings in different pieces of music.
Pavegen has created walkways where lights respond when people step on special floor tiles.

Sensory Spaces

LISTEN

Our surroundings can change how a place feels. Sensory spaces use light, sound, color, and movement in thoughtful ways. Some spaces help us feel calm, while others invite us to play. Music can also help us notice and explore different feelings. Future schools could let us choose spaces that fit what we need. Who says Monday morning is too early for a hallway dance party?

Fun Facts:

Passage, an interactive artwork first created for Montréal en Lumière, is a tunnel made from 20 giant circles of light. As people walk through it, their movement activates different light patterns and sounds.
At the Glazer Children’s Museum in Tampa, Light Cloud lets visitors touch sensors to change the lights and sounds around them.
In 2024, SFMOMA presented Arborhythm, an installation of tree-like speakers that played an evolving mix of natural and urban sounds recorded around San Francisco.
Artist Christopher Janney created a public installation of tall columns with lights, speakers, and motion sensors called Sonic Forest. Walking between the columns triggers changing sounds and visual effects.
The American Museum of Natural History in New York has a sensory room with touchable objects, a quiet video corner, a reading area, and small quiet nooks for visitors who need a break from the busy museum.

Discussion Question:

How could we design a hallway that feels fun without making it uncomfortable for others?

LISTEN

Physical Build:

Create a mini sensory hallway inside a shoebox or cardboard box. Use colored paper, shiny materials, textured surfaces, and drawings of lights or speakers to show how the hallway could change. Design different parts for different feelings, such as an energetic zone and a quiet zone.

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Digital Build:

With an adult, ask ChatGPT:

“Design three school hallways for different moods: energetic, calm, and focused.”

Compare what changes in each space. Then draw your favorite version or combine parts of all three into a hallway that can change throughout the day.