21 Nov 2019 at 13:35 | Published by: PatPenguin | Views: 22827 | News search

Eiffel Tower from Rugby Middle School  (Photo by Pete Zamplas - The Tribune Papers)

With school season in full swing we’re returning to our series of articles around miniature golf used in educational settings. In Part 5 of our series we covered such a variety of topics and continue to provide excellent ideas of how our sport can be integrated into a curriculum at all levels. All of our articles in this series come from the United States.

Our first article is a short bit out of Franklin Elementary School in Indiana. Here the classrooms used minigolf as a way to highlight some STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) concepts for friends and family. Sadly there are no pictures in the article but it does talk about how 18 classrooms each built a hole to display the concepts and was part of a larger night focused on education.

The next article comes out of Godwin Heights Middle School in Michigan. Usually when we discuss art and miniature golf we’re talking about artists designing holes for museums or other artist-based installations. In this situation we see art being put to use in an educational setting. As part of an art history unit, the students in the class were challenged not only to put their course design skills to the test but to pair them with knowledge of famous artists. The artists selected ranged from Edvard Munch and his iconic “The Scream” to street artist Bansky all the way to the lovable Bob Ross and his “happy little trees”. It is a great matching of many of the ways minigolf can be a tool to educate and foster creativity.

Third in this series, we harken back to 2018 and Rugby Middle School in North Carolina. This school put together a massive minigolf build to take a look at world geography and history. Through 27 holes over 3 geographically grouped courses, the students put together a variety of obstacles and designs to teach about specific countries. Each course was required to have a “tall” obstacle as a show piece and as the course was open to parents as well, part of the program was a student at each hole to give more history and discussion of what was being shown in the design. A truly great way to get kids engaged with culture outside of their own!

Our last article comes from none other than Scientific American. While not an actual application of minigolf in an education settling, it is a good article discussing how to make your own course to help look at some of the forces at work in the sport. Specifically calling out the “angles of incidence and reflection”, which is huge, especially for anyone trying to save a bad putt and make a heroic shot, but also the complexities around worrying about “friction and a spinning ball.” While playing minigolf is fun, it can turn into a thinking person’s game very quickly especially in those competitive moments!

Know about minigolf being used in an education setting? Let our editor know at patsheridan@minigolfnews.com.

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