Kinder Book Design

Fresh off the press: Invention Squad has collaborated with Kindergarten kids to produce their very own illustrated books. The books are called "The Important thing about Spring" and "What I Never Do".

Opening the pages of "What I Never Do" gives you that bitter sweet memory of being a little kid. All those things we tried once: throwing pizza on the wall, feeding our brother garbage and giving ourself a haircut-and weren't supposed to do. All those things we wished we could do: riding the ferris wheel, going to the beach, staying up all night and playing Mario Bros. 

And then there's the ones that are just so lovely...

Upcycled Furniture

Invention Squad ran an all day workshop for Grade 5 Clinton Street students. The brief was for teams of kids to work together and design, model and then build either a table or a chair. Constructing furniture -especially chairs-is one of our favourite challenges because it requires a delicate balance between ergonomics (a comfortable fit for the body) and artistry (a design that looks great).

In our workshop, students are given a chance to move from a 2D sketch to a small construction paper model and then scale it up to create a full size piece of furniture. This open-ended prototyping exercise requires thought about how to make a structure strong and stable and yet comfortable at the same time.

Some of the tables were attractive as well as functional. 

Fantasy Homes

You have been commissioned to plan a new dream house.  Your client is Harry Potter. Your client is the Prime Minister. Your client is an alien hamster. What does their new house look like? Is it made of wire, wood, candy or balloons? Does it have any special features: high tech hubs, indoor gardens or play zones? Here's some of the blueprints the student architects at Clinton Street Public School came up with in the Invention Squad planning workshop.

This design workshop asked the participants to consider how functionality relates to space, shape and layout. Who is using this space and what do they need to do in it? How big does everything need to be? How do people move around in the space?

Design-a-thon 2012

At the 2012 Design-a-thon we aimed to use a variety of materials to produce large scale artworks with the kids, themed on the school and its community. 

In this workshop, each student was given a portion of a familiar face to design-using collage and pens.  The mosaic they produced was an exploration of colour, line and texture.

In the Garrison Creeky workshop, the kids used found fabrics, torn into strips to weave a churning river. The students also designed fishes and other adorned sea creatures to bring the creek to life.

Textiles were also used in this workshop to create an animated collage portrait of the school.

In this session, students painted a large portrait of Niagara Street School and added community details-rainbows,

Blast Off!

Welcome to Invention Squad where cool designs come to life.

As part of the growing Maker Movement, Invention Squad encourages everyone to try stuff out to solve a design challenge. We are fans of using our hands, open-ended thinking and a pile of junk to solve a problem. How can I turn a wedding gown into a super-hero costume?  What new sport do we want at the next Para-Olympic Games? What would the coolest playground be for our school? It’s time to unleash your inner maker!

Chair Design by Clinton St. Public School Kids