What is the Remake Learning Days – and the Badgerland Festival?
- Remake Learning Days is an international celebration of innovative experiences and opportunities for youth to develop their sense of creativity, perseverance and curiosity. The Festival began in Pittsburgh (home of Mr. Rogers and other youth-forward initiatives like Remake Learning.org) and quickly spread to other states. Wisconsin was invited to join the Festival in 2020 as one of the first Midwestern locations and invites qualified organizations to participate in the Festival and list their programs free of charge.
- Join dozens of Wisconsin Event Hosts and Organizers who hold events of every shape and size around southcentral Wisconsin to connect youth and families with programs that encourage a joy of learning the arts, science, outdoors, technology, youth voice and maker ed. Wisconsin organizations included libraries, schools, museums, after school programs, clubs, universities, government agencies, businesses and more!
- What Types of Events? – Events are designed to be hands-on, relevant and engaging educational experiences for youth (pre-K through high school) and their families, caregivers and educators. The majority of events are free and open to kids of all ages.
- Learning Themes – Events are organized around learning themes: Arts, Maker, Outdoor Learning, Science, Technology and Youth Voice. In addition, the Festival includes Professional Development events for parents, educators and caregivers. Wisconsin’s interactive website allows families, youth and educators to search events by date/time, location, learning theme, age group and more.
Why Do We Do This?
Remake Learning Days organizers worldwide share these 4 “audacious” goals:
- To have region-wide celebrations of the incredible learning opportunities that exist in all neighborhoods
- For parents and caregivers to learn alongside their children and expose families to what innovative learning looks like
- To strengthen a region’s learning ecosystem
- To ignite a conversation among diverse stakeholders on what the future of lifelong learning looks like
How does Remake Learning Days work?
Here’s why Remake Learning Days works so well — it’s a:
- Joyful open house of local events
- In-person & and live on-line learning experiences
- Covering a variety of learning themes
- For youth Pre-K – 12th grades to adults
- Place where diverse event hosts are welcome
- Highlights the many places where youth and families can learn across a region
- Family-friendly festival that takes away barriers to learning
- Events are designed for parents/caregivers to learn alongside their kids
- Neighborhood-situated events that take away travel considerations
- Free and low-cost events
- Days and times that are family-friendly
- Communications outreach campaign to families about the festival
- Information from trusted sources (educators; out-of-school-time providers; community leaders)
- Marketing including flyers, media coverage, digital campaign, etc.
- Social media and more
Who is Involved in Wisconsin?
- Wisconsin’s “Badgerland Learning Days” festival is a collaborative nonprofit effort spearheaded by: WeThinkBigLLC, Create Wisconsin, Madison Community Foundation and regional education leaders. Wisconsin Event Hosts include dozens of local nonprofit organizations, museums, libraries, schools, educators, businesses, after school clubs and youth organizations — basically anyone who is interested in reaching out to youth and families to support a love of learning.
- Join dozens of Event Hosts and Organizers who hold events of every shape and size around southcentral Wisconsin to connect youth and families to activities that encourage a joy of learning the arts, science, outdoors, technology, youth voice and maker ed.
- Sponsors have included: American Girl Fund for Children, The Kohler Foundation, WKOW-TV, Office Evolution-Madison Arboretum, Stoughton Innovation Center and local businesses. National partners include: PBS Kids, Digital Promise, Remake Learning, The Grable Foundation, Schmidt Futures, Carnegie Corporation of New York and the William + Flora Hewett Foundation.
Why Should Our Organization Participate?
- Be Part of the Community Celebration — Remake Learning Days celebrates the power of learning in our community! It works to showcase and connect families to organizations who provide great examples of hands-on and joyful learning practices during the Festival dates and year-round! This nonprofit collaboration is made possible thanks to support of generous donors.
- Its easy to be Included –– You can nominate any existing program or event for the Festival, or create a special one for the occasion! Host it at your location, offsite or collaborate with another organization. You are in control. The key is providing a quality learning experience and making families feel welcome.
- Benefit from Free Promotion — Festival organizers work with local and national media, outreach specialists and sponsors to promote and spread word about your programs. The Festival’s user-friendly event website, along with social media campaigns and TV coverage, complements your existing outreach and the Festival’s publicity campaign.
- Enjoy Professional Networking — And best of all, when you participate in Remake Learning Days, you are joining dozens of other education, program and outreach professionals throughout southcentral Wisconsin in a common cause — celebrating the work we do and connecting with families! We meet virtually and in-person – whatever works best for you!
How Does Hosting a Badgerland Learning Days Event Work?
- Submit your event(s) using our Event Submission Portal (ideally before February 15 to ensure maximum publicity for you, but listings are accepted until the start of the Festival.) Don’t forget to click on “Badgerland”!
- Our Remake Learning Days Badgerland staff will review your submission to make sure the event meets our selection criteria.
- We approve your event as an official Remake Learning Days event (or will follow up with you if the proposed listing needs to be modified.)
- Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to connect your event to Wisconsin’s “Badgerland Learning Days” Festival.
Selection Criteria
- Your event should be located in Wisconsin or intended for Wisconsin youth, family or educator audiences.
- Your program or event should take place or be available during the Badgerland Festival dates of April 19-27, 2025. If your event is scheduled for a time in the weeks before or after the official dates, please go ahead and submit it. We will encourage families to attend in the spirit of the Festival!
- Remake Learning Days events should relate to at least one of the following Learning Themes: Arts, Science, Outdoors, Technology, Youth Voice or Maker Mindset.
- We encourage your events to be hands-on or designed to celebrate the joy of learning together!
- Festival events can be free, low cost or for a fee. You can designate this information on your event submission form.
- As the event host, you are accountable for all aspects of your event(s) including organization, content and staffing.
- We expect you to promote the event as part of the “Remake Learning Days” Festival using the simple guidelines and hashtags we will provide.
Special Opportunities for 2025
- Wake Up Wisconsin! This year ABC-affiliate WKOW-TV will host a week-long promotion of the Festival and its Event Hosts with a daily Trivia Contest in April. Event Hosts are invited to donate trivia questions about their organizations or subject areas, as well as organizational SWAG to be featured in each day’s Prize Packets. (Get a glimpse of the Morning Team having fun with the 2022 Contest coverage.)
Event Planning Tips
- Make your event family-friendly. Remember – we’re trying to engage caregivers alongside their children!
- Make it clear what families can learn or do at your event and what the hands-on activity will be.
- It helps families plan if you give them an idea of the time frame for your event is or if it is a drop-in/drop-out event
- Fun-themed informal events are eye-catching to families.
- Families will search for events that are convenient in their schedule or align with their child’s interests.
Event Support
Badgerland Learning Days coordinates overarching publicity for the Festival and its events in Wisconsin, including on-air promotion campaign, flyer distribution to schools, Festival kick-off events, Festival website, blog post coverage, interviews and press release media materials and social media hashtags for you to use.
Looking for Ideas? Want to See More about Hosting Your Own Event or Program?
- Watch this short video.
- Check out this website for Event Hosts
- To learn more, contact WI Festival Coordinator Kathe Crowley Conn at 608-800-2100 or kathe@wethinkbiginc.org.