child imagination
in every place,
everywhere.
this is ...
Personalised adventures
that improve wellbeing
though interaction
with the real world.
CHILD NATION FORMATs
Interaction
Real places required in off-screen activity
Imagination
Kids' own ideas used in a personalised experience
Agency
Adults let kids lead and learn the value of play
Child Nation is interactive stories that engage kids with their surroundings.
Using an internet enabled device, children enter the Child Nation world via QR on alluring signage and choose an adventure from a location-specific collection.
Each adventure presents simple and unusual prompts to physically explore immediate surroundings. Based on their typed responses to questions and choices, the platform crafts a personalised experience for each child, resulting in exciting and unexpected outcomes.
Child Nation enables children to engage with their surroundings in an uninhibited way, free from the gaze of adults. This enables them to approach sites and locations in novel ways that challenge conventional perspectives.
This is a new genre of art-making that empowers children to become creative and active citizens, where their boundless imaginations contribute to shaping a better world.
Curate from a diverse collection of artist created adventures
Think of something you fear, then be guided to give it form as a monster. Find your Fear Monster's home or habitat, hide it, choose a conversation topic and tell your monster what to do when others walk past.
FOR ALL SPACES: PARKS, LIBRARIES, SCHOOLS & AT HOME
Explore different rooms and be helped to listen quietly before inventing the name, secret life and personality of one room. Then capture it’s breath and story in a jar and take it into a different room. Leave your jar somewhere to enable a conversation after you have gone.
FOR INDOOR SPACES ONLY: LIBRARIES, SCHOOLS & AT HOME
Feel the world around you alive with animistic figures inspired by Japanese culture. Identify a face in a wall, intuit a Yokai tugging at your sleeve then make a small shrine to remember.
FOR ALL SPACES: PARKS, LIBRARIES, SCHOOLS & AT HOME
Notice things that are massive and things that are tiny as you tune-in to an outdoor space. Then imagine you can camouflage and from your hiding place, listen to imaginary voices of non-human things, invent relationships between them and write messages to help them communicate.
FOR OUTDOOR SPACES ONLY: PARKS, SCHOOLS & AT HOME
Explore what kind of personality you have and how other people see you, with simple word choices. Then generate an opposite type of person and role play behaviour that is unusual or usually not permitted. Warning: this journey sometimes prompts kids to (pretend) to do things that might appear 'naughty'!
FOR ALL SPACES: PARKS, LIBRARIES, SCHOOLS & AT HOME
Imagine what type of landscape might have been here before this building was here, then imagine a secret creature, family or society that still lives here, invent ceremonies for them and leave a note as an offering.
FOR ALL SPACES: PARKS, LIBRARIES, SCHOOLS & AT HOME
Choose a piece of architecture such as a pole or wall and with simple steps, discover you can develop a story as well as a character who knows its secrets. Have lines of text generated with your own ideas and use them for a super short performance. Make a ticket and rip it off as you greet your tiny audience of one.
FOR ALL SPACES: PARKS, LIBRARIES, SCHOOLS & AT HOME
WHAT KIDS SAY
“it’s like being inside your own story as you make it up.”
“It's like a conversation in your own head.”
“It made me feel like I was on a trip somewhere.”
WHAT ADULTS SAY
"Jessica Wilson is always pushing art form boundaries, and seeks new ways for children to engage creatively with their parents, peers and places around them. I trust her methodology and practice completely.
The concept of CHILD NATION has great potential to broaden audiences. It provides an exciting and adventurous way to experience the performing arts outside of a traditional theatrical building."
Mary Harvey, Arts Centre Melbourne
"This is so good. I really found it transported me and was so engaged, even as an adult. Wonderful!"
Parent, Artground Singapore.
"It taps into a different part of their brain to explore different modes of thinking that they haven’t had opportunities to develop within the class.
I saw some children become so enthusiastic for the first time. As a teacher it actually made me reflect on how I can access children that are usually difficult to engage"
Year 3&4 classroom teacher
"I played one of the games today and it was transformative. Literally brought a tear to my eye. Cannot speak highly enough of Jessica’s creations!"
Melbourne Knowledge Week
“She liked the idea of her room having an identity. I tried to tell her about 'choose your own' adventure books that I read at her age and her eyes started glazing over...definitely your project was more engaging (lol).”
Parent feedback
"…some of those things really cracked us up! I was so impressed that you were able to offer something meaningful, authentic and fun for the kids! Well done and thanks a million."
Lakisha Welch, M.Ed
Millersville, USA
"She loved the independence of it - that she could go off on her own and sit in the garden and just do it all by herself. She is on the Autism Spectrum, so I guess it worked to help her go into this dreamy state but also remain focused on something."
Parent of ASD participant
"Child Nation offers radical new ways of presenting arts experiences to children, and utilising our spaces."
Helen Withycombe, Creative Programs Manager, State Library Victoria
Who is engaging with Child Nation
