Christmas fun with AR

I recently worked with a teacher exploring the possibilities of AR in the classroom through AR Makr. The students had been given some "sandpit time" with the app before they were set a number of Christmas-themed challenges.

The students created elf images by taking photographs of an elf craft activity they had completed earlier, then removing the background and exporting the PNG image using Keynote. The elf images were added to AR Makr to be used in the challenges.

The simple challenges included:

• Placing the elf in interesting locations within the classroom (inspired by Elf on a Shelf) and taking photographs.
• Creating a Christmas tree within AR Makr (using the cone) and having the elves dance around the Christmas tree.
• Using the animation to capture a short video of the elf as a Jack-in-the-box.

The students really enjoyed these simple challenges and were very creative in their interpretations of the tasks. This activity provided opportunities for students to problem solve collaboratively and to discover features within the AR Makr app. They used critical thinking to extend on the set challenges including adding flashing lights to the Christmas tree or a blinking star and having another student hold the Jack-in-the-box.

It was very pleasing to see how such as simple idea allowed for a wide variety of unique solutions!