Lights, Action!

This week we made fantastic light designs. We challenged the kids to do this using only foil, pipe cleaners and a hand held torch or a string of fairy lights. By constraining the materials available, we forced them to explore the possibilities and limits of what you can do with foil -squish it, mould it, fold it, fan it, puncture it...

When we turned off the lights in the studio, the fun began. There was lots of exploration of the qualities that foil might contribute to the design- whether the light is reflected by it, passing through a space in it or distorted by an edge of it.

A hanging garland with spiralled foil elements creates an attractive chandelier. 

Some of our students made sculptures-moulded with foil-to project interesting shadows.

 Others were entranced by the reflective properties of foil. This design used the light bouncing off a core of foil. The curled pipe-cleaners pop out of the illuminated centre like stamens.

Light sabres were popular of course...

In this case the light shines through some fluorescent paper and the pipe cleaners cast an interesting shadow.

This student noticed that the light itself could be used as a spinning top and started to add elements extending from the side.  Although this idea is not fully developed, this is the kernel of a new design concept: incorporating motion into a light fixture.

We've got the power!

In this week's fashion challenge, we encouraged wild self expression as we created super hero-popstar outfits. Aesthetics is often an important part of design: so we wanted them to upcycle something good looking! We gave the squad a mixture of vintage garments (from the 70's and 80's of course), other textiles and interesting materials (deflated mylar balloons, faux fur pieces, mesh) and asked them to make a new and theatrical outfit. The emphasis for this class was also on fun- can they make something playful and unexpected? You bet they can!

                               

Many of the kids worked in groups, using fast sketches to merge their ideas. Armed with scissors, colourful duct tape, safety pins and elastics this was an exercise in creative destruction. Sometimes we have to take something apart to design something better. In our fashion remixes we support girl and boy power, drama and individualism.

Girl Power!

Meet me at the carnival

Roll up! Rollup! It's carnival time at Invention Squad. What better way to beat off the winter blues than to design a great fair game and play it with your friends? This was definitely the funnest, wackiest session yet. We challenged the kids to make a transportable/foldable set-up and to test it by playing it with their friends and parents. This is cardboard prototyping and design by play- a natural for kid experimenters.

This design had a moving element. The girls came up with a spinning ball trap, with cups attached to a central cylinder.

Testing time. This game is trickier than it looks.

This two person game is built like a tray to be carried around one person's neck. Players face one another and compete to get balls into the suspended cups.

               
  This team decided to go big and built a personal pool table. Loads of action, lots of laughs.

Picnic time

                                     

It's time for a feast at invention squad!This week, we asked our students to design a transportable food system for an outdoor picnic. This industrial design challenge may seem pedestrian at first sight- especially for those of us who have to scrape leftovers from a school lunchbox every evening. You might think that a picnic basket is just a box with a handle, but in the hands of a set of eager kid inventors there are many interesting possibilities for innovation.

How to make it easy to transport? Could it be eco-friendly? How could we adapt it for special types of food? Could it be multifunctional? Is my lunchbox for a special user? This is a prototype for a future lunchbox. It comes with a remote control, which allows food selection and pops up the appropriate food receptacles on extendable platforms as they are selected. The whole box is mounted on wheels for transportability. 

This picnic hamper includes a music player and has a handsome leather lining! 

This is a portable BBQ unit for picnics.  It includes a removable heating unit (with a solar cell connection), a food storage area, roasting sticks and a carrying strap.

This invention is a feeder for a small monkey. It explores the idea that pets and zoo animals need more stimulation and giving them their food in a climbing nook will make dinnertime into a bit of a game. Old toy parts are remixed to create a colourful playful design with lots of receptacles for snacks.

This design is for outdoor adventurers. The lunch canister is light and straps to the head or the body to leave hands free for climbing and trekking. This inventor considered the portability factor. Nice job!