Toddler Time

"Nurturing our kids true potential isn't about making sure they reach some predetermined standards, it's about helping them develop the skills they need so they can create a life that is meaningful and satisfying to them"         

                                                                Eileen Kennedy-Moore, psychologist and author

Our first workshop was a riot of colour, texture and playfulness as we designed toys for babies and toddlers. Out of mounds of material emerged a squid clan, a rotating furry thingamajig, a play dashboard (complete with turnable knobs, steering wheel, ignition knob and clutch!), a kick-mobile, a disco dish, a twistable octo-cone and catching cup and a bouncy fur pet.

These are prototypes -or model designs. The kids have taken this open-ended challenge and invented toys with the senses in mind. In this first class, we let the kids think with their hands. We want them to turn their ideas into something tangible and to get comfortable with a wide range of materials.

In our demo time, everyone did a great job of saying what they liked and what they could improve about their designs. We also talked quite a bit about how these models would have to be adapted in the real manufacturing world, to make them safe for little kids. Some of the boys wanted to know how and when they could start production.

This class introduces the kids to the concept that inventions and designs are for someone: the "user". When we're designing for someone else- it's a good idea to think about who they are and what they need or want. Better still ask them! The students had a lot of enthusiasm for this project because many of them have little sisters and brothers. So in this case empathy and understanding of the user come naturally.

"my brother would love this squid, but he might pull it apart!"

"a toddler would love this because it spins and it's furry"

Make something Awesome: Winter after-school sessions

A 7 week session is starting up on Mondays at Artscape Youngplace. There will be a pick up at Givins Shaw school. Students from other schools are welcome to join us at Artscape. 

Here's our schedule:

Week 1: “Toddler alert” Squeeze it, chew it, pull it, shake it. Using colour and texture, invent a new toy for toddlers.

Week 2: “Animal Treehouse” Plan and build a cosy tree-home for critters.

Week 3: “Groovy grub” Young entrepreneurs create a special meal, logo, brand and advert for their own restaurant.

Week 4: “Ready, set, go!”Make a super speedy junk-mobile and race your friends.

Week 5: “Set design” Create the stage for a production of your favourite story: Harry Potter, Star Wars, Cinderella.

Week 6: “Fairground game” The Wackamole moles have had enough! Invent a new game for the Ex. and test it by playing it.

Week 7: “Can-Am 2015” Design a new uniform for Canada in the 2015 Pan-Am games

For more information or to register, please email us: info@inventionsquad.ca

And here's our schedule for a 7 week session at Niagara Street on Tuesdays (starting on Jan 27th): Week 1: “Lunchbox” Invent a smarter way to dine in style at school. Week 2: “Animal Treehouse” Plan and build a cosy tree-home for critters. Week 3 : “Groovy grub” Young entrepreneurs create a special meal, logo, brand and advert for their own restaurant. Week 4: “Ready, set, go!” Make a super speedy junk-mobile and race your friends. Week 5: “Set design” Create the stage for a production of your favourite story: Harry Potter, Star Wars, Cinderella. Week 6: “Fairground game” The Wackamole moles have had enough! Invent a new game for the Ex. and test it by playing it. Week 7: “Can-Am 2015” Design a new uniform for Canada in the 2015 Pan-Am games For more information or to register, please email us: info@inventionsquad.ca

Demo Day

Invention Squad Niagara Street ended with a party for all our fabulous inventors and their families! The kids had a chance to showcase some of their work at Demo Day and we screened a mini-movie about the workshops. Having the kids themselves talk about their designs makes the work come alive. After the movie, we gave skills buttons as awards and the kids concocted their own mocktails (the one I was offered was called "creature from the swamp" for good reason).

Since Invention Squad believes that many things can be improved by re-design, we also took a bit of time to ask the kids for their feedback on the course. What should we stop? What should we start? And what did you like that we could continue?

Thanks to all our student designers this term. We really enjoyed having you in the Squad and hope you keep on thinking outside of the box!

Structures

This week Invention Squad built strong and stable structures. We looked at a variety of designed structures to see whether they were formed of linear (rods, bars, sticks etc.), planar (sheets) or block components.

Then we gave the kids a pack of playing cards and a pair of scissors each. Their task was to build any structure they wanted to- tables and chairs, houses and bridges and test them for their load bearing properties. Since we deliberately did not provide any glue or tape, one aspect of this design challenge involves exploring joints.

Here are some simple structures made by card slits that form potential support units for our structures.

These can be used to support a planar sheet made of multiple cards- which creates a (somewhat shakey) table,

or the first storey of a house,

or a beam bridge with two piers…

As everyone knows, the funnest part of building a structure can be demolishing it.  We tested our structures to see if they could support an elephant. This is a chance to observe how compression and tension forces act on a structure:

image taken from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/bridge/beam_forces.html

It's also an opportunity to spot the weak spots in a structure, as it's collapsing.  The central point of a beam bridge (furthest from the piers) is always the weakest point.  This woven bridge (below) works quite well to add strength to the beam.

Enterprising use of card boxes and some trussing on the piers on this bridge (below).

Whoops! Back to the drawing board.

 How can we make that beam more sturdy? What would make those piers more stable and supportive?

Parapan-Am 2015

With the Parapan-American Games coming to Toronto this summer, we asked our Invention Squad to design a game for teams of blind players and one participant in a wheelchair. In creating a new sport, we're not making an object, we're designing a working system.

In order to better understand the constraints of this task, we had a Q and A with guest participant: John Willis. John is an inclusive designer (meaning he designs with people of all abilities in mind) and is also blind himself. He talked to the kids about what sports are fun for him to play and what things he tries to avoid at all costs (fast moving balls, tall hard obstacles).

With these user constraints in mind, we brain-stormed to come up with a blended game. We had lots of ideas as a group. Elektra and Zachary thought of a flag capture game, where the wheelchair participant has five flags and two teams of non-sighted players try and find the flags, with directions from two sighted guides. We test played this for two rounds.

When users test a game it is really obvious what works and what needs improving. Overall the verdict was that this game was quite fun, but that:

• The flags need to stick out from the wheelchair all in one place (to avoid the crazy groping)
• There should be some way of limiting the amount of time a blind person can touch the chair  (same reason as above). Maybe a ref is needed to enforce this?
• There needs to be a way to slow the wheelchair down -or maybe there should be multiple wheelchair participants (to "confuse it up" some more)
• The flags could be different textures for the two different teams
• There might be blind people with flags (should these guys also be able to get flags)?
• Our guest designer, John pointed out, that we might want to modify the game so that the blind participants have more autonomy i.e. they are experiencing the game through their own senses more. 

Round one of prototyping done. Lots of great design modifications by our young inventors. 

Rock On!

This week's Invention Squad challenge was to use found materials to make musical instruments. We asked the kids to make a string instrument (with at least four different notes) or a percussion instrument that can generate four different sounds. Then join a band -or fly solo- and make some noise (aka music)!

Some of the kids made percussion decks with hanging gongs, foil cymbals and fork xylophones. 

Others experimented with changing pitch by altering tension, gauge and length of strings. Some designs posed questions about acoustics: how does dampening affect the quality or timbre of the note? What role does a sound chamber have for the volume of my sound? How on earth can I get any note from this crazy thing I just made? 

As the class ended (never mind the near-deafened instructors), the kids gave an enthusiastic performance on their instruments. The eclectic selection included a rousing Jingle Bells, a body-slamming, foot stomping, clave-playing solo from Zachary, Roar-the small girl cover and a stylish percussion improv from the boys.  

Move over Lady Gaga

In this week's fashion challenge, we encouraged wild self expression as we created superhero-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.

The class ended with the kids strutting their costumes through the studio. Bravo!!