Publish at July 30 2025 Updated July 30 2025
Recess evokes invention, energy and informal bonds. It releases an energy that is often contained in the classroom. Students are spontaneous in inventing games and forming groups. Above all, they focus on the present moment. They share many informal acquaintances and forge friendships lasting a day, a few weeks or a lifetime. They also appropriate a space and define imaginary zones where they invent activities with the few facilities at their disposal.
Recreation is an inspiring activity for anyone interested in informal group learning.
Since July 2025, Eric Simon has been organizing a "visual recreation". La récréation is based on a weekly padlet containing a ten-page pdf file of activities based on graphic facilitation. The padlet also includes explanatory videos. The activities take a few dozen minutes each, but it is possible to devote more time to them. The instructions are brief and to the point: recreation is not a hobby.
Anne Bodart / Beau d'Art on Visual recreation on vacation
A Facebook group allows participants to share their creations, while Eric Simon provides attentive, caring guidance without imposing himself on the group.
A "recreation" is thus defined as a time of accompanied self-training. The facilitator progressively provides resources and activities, as well as one or more sharing spaces that he or she animates (Facebook group, keyword, etc.). No advice, no precise or timed guidance as in a training course. Eric Simon imposes no deadlines, rankings or voting as in some creative moocs.
Anne Bordet - random textures for Récréations visuelles en vacances
There's no pedagogical objective, no round-table presentation of each participant's journey. Like children, we discover a range of fun activities each week, and everyone jumps at the one that suits them best: rebus, DIY, drawing tricks, lettering, scales and wacky training - the choice is wide, and disobedience is encouraged.
It's a safe bet that some of us procrastinate and skip a turn, while others are more diligent and complete all the activities. As in a playground, 80% of the noise will be caused by 20% of the participants. But that's okay. Everyone brings what they want, makes the space their own and creates the interactions they want. The weekly rhythm of the activity files maintains attention, as do the group dynamics on the networks.
Frédéric Duriez - feline variations on character drawings
Visual recreation on vacation
Recreation is also re-creation. Participants reinvent instructions, adapting them to their context and choosing what suits them best. They have fun, and it's no doubt because they're having fun that they're learning, daring to test and present their work.
A sample activity is available here. It shows that, in this summer interlude, participants rediscover the pleasure of manual activities!
Scissors, glue, pencils and paper are the essential tools of the trade. The secret of a break is undoubtedly the break from the screens. Everyone responds as they wish, using the tools they want and putting in the effort that suits them. But it never occurs to anyone to have an image search engine or artificial intelligence do the work.
The creatives at the prompt wouldn't have the opportunity to impress us, but we're sure they'd have fun too if they ventured out for a bit of recreation.
Carine Bchi - Enjoying the little things on Visual recreation on vacation
Resources
Eric Simon - La pensée visuelle en ébullition - website and podcast: https: //esimon-visuel.com/podcast/
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