City-building board game for kids teaches grown-ups to play nice

Kids Build Cities helps you learn and rethink urban planning issues on Family Day.

Toronto is rapidly growing and we, as Torontonians, are at odds with how we plan for change.

We need better dialogue about planning and development between residents and developers.

That's why Naama Blonder, a Toronto-based urban designer/architect, designed a giant urban planning board game for parents and children as a tool for advancing the dialogue.

Naama’s hope is to generate a more positive, informed dialogue about urban planning in our city.

The Game

The board is based on the map of Toronto. The players move their pieces mostly by using the streets, with additional shortcuts provided by transit - just like in real life. While moving on the board, the players collect building pieces of different uses (such as residential, retail, libraries) which they need to use to create a complete urban block

When

Kids Build Cities will be launched for families to play on the Family Day weekend at:

The Ontario Science Centre

Saturday February 17th, 2:00 – 5:00 pm

Sunday February 18th, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm

Monday February 19th, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm

The Fort York Library

Saturday February 17th, 11:00 am – 1:30 pm

As part of their mission, Naama plans to eventually host the game in all 44 city wards.

Naama Blonder is an architect and urban designer originally from Tel-Aviv, Israel. She co-founded her Toronto-based practice Smart Density in 2017 and designed the Kids Build Cities board game for Family Day and beyond. She can be reached at nblonder@smartdensity.com, 647-687-4474.