Like many social institutions, journalism faces twin challenges of rebuilding engagement and trust. In online data journalism these manifest in a variety of ways: discoverability, belief, understanding, visual literacy, and more. Together we will invent an alternative, designing short hands-on data activities that physicalize existing data stories and bring them to the public. Over the week we will explore the application of central lessons from participatory design, civic engagement, modern fabrication, and educational activity design. The week of exploratory work will culminate in a 1-hour playful pop-up activity you will lead to engage the public in the topic of a data story you select. You might end up retelling a data story about local recycling rates by asking people to categorize trash, or maybe inviting people to place their favorite local parks on a map to connect them to a story about greenspace. You’ll be playing at the cutting edge of participation and data storytelling, offering a novel approach that engages audiences where they are and reinforces trust in data journalism.