Curated by Tyler Stewart
Playing around isn’t just for kids, it’s an important part of our everyday social lives. Whether it’s physical action in sports or mental stimulation through board games, keeping active is an essential way for humans to stay happy and healthy.
Game Play is a highly interactive family-friendly exhibit that will encourage you to discover the social importance of games and play. Pairing hands-on activities with history and culture, there’s something here for everyone.
This exhibit aims to connect the past and present, showing how different activities have evolved over the years. As games are played, they grow and change as participants invent new rules, tricks and techniques.
Paige Crozon at the FIBA 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2024 in Debrecen, Hungary, May 19, 2024.
Image courtesy of Canada Basketball/Matt Johnson
Canadian James Naismith invented the game of basketball in 1891, but today this sport is undergoing a massive revolution. Lethbridge locals Kacie Bosch and Paige Crozon are at the forefront of this change, as members of the 3x3 Canadian Women’s National Team. Having won the world series two years straight, their half-court games are played across the world in festival-like atmospheres with live DJ’s. Basketball has never been so exciting!
The first roller skates were nothing more than steel wheels bolted to pieces of wood. Evolving from those humble origins, today we now have the fast-paced sports of roller derby and skateboarding. Roller derby unfolds like rugby on wheels and has become one of the world’s fastest-growing sports due to its welcoming and inclusive non-gendered team nature. Skateboarders are no longer seen as criminals or punks, but as professional athletes being featured in the Olympics. A great change from the tiny steel wheels of 100 years ago.
Rolling Handstand by Marc Hayward, May 25, 1979 | P191107692476
Image courtesy of Galt Museum & Archives | Akaisamitohkano’pa
These are just two of many other themes and stories explored within Game Play on display from October 19, 2024—March 2, 2025. This exhibit will get you moving!