Stetson University alumni Robin Diedrichs, MEd, and Brian Levine, BA, transformed an unused classroom into a life-sized Candy Land for their students at Citrus Grove Elementary School in DeLand.
Diedrichs was named Volusia County Teacher of the Year in 2017. She also has been recognized as one of Florida's High Impact teachers and is the recipient of a Crystal Apple Educator Award for community involvement. She also established the DaVinci Club, an afterschool literacy club that promotes reading, the arts and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). The club is supported by Stetson's Nina B. Hollis Institute for Educational Reform.
Fourth-grade teacher Diedrichs read an article about teacher Eleanor Abbott who created the board game Candy Land during the polio epidemic. She designed the game in 1948 while she was recovering from polio in a San Diego hospital. The game was tested by the children in the same ward in the hospital. Milton Bradley bought the board game and introduced it to the public in 1949.
Diedrichs thought recreating the game for elementary school students would be a fun, educational activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. She collaborated with third-grade teacher Brian Levine to make the dream a reality.
Transforming the classroom into Candy Land was a DIY project with handmade items that were created by Diedrichs, Levine, Citrus Grove Elementary School's staff and the students' parents. The classroom looked like a production set with colorful gumdrops, squares on the floor, balloons hanging from the ceiling, tablecloths and plates. Pool noodles were used to create candy canes in the Peppermint Forest and the lollipops in the Lollipop Woods. The Candy Castle was created with boxes, white holiday lights and a chair covered with gold tablecloths. There also was a lot of candy!
Students were mesmerized while they participated in interactive lessons that took them through the whimsical world of Candy Land. The colors corresponded to a different activity from each subject, for example, blue was for math, green was for science and red was for miscellaneous activities where the students had to collaborate on team-building challenges that tested their ability to work together, problem solve and create.
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