The intention behind this project is to create toys that demonstrate physical concepts to children. However, many children will refuse to play with a toy if they think they are learning. So, these toys are designed to teach them without the children realizing they are being taught.
When creating these toys I looked to popular children's toys for inspiration. Most children's toys are already designed for learning but the creators of these toys seem to have been able to hide this fact from the children themselves. I also considered popular physics toys, since they are specifically teaching tools that were created to make learning fun. The products that resulted are a bit of a mash up between physics toys and children's toys.
My approach to the project was to try to make the toys as simple as possible. I didn't want the toys to have to come with instructions because I wanted the children to figure out how to play with it easily. I also didn't want small parts since there's typically a choking hazard associated with such pieces. The challenge was making a toy that children would want to play with, would teach them, and hadn't already been made. It seemed as if every good idea had already been taken. In order to overcome this, I chose to sort of machine gun ideas out with little thought to their viability. This way, my brainstorming would be uninhibited and I could pare the list down later on, rejecting dangerous, non-viable, and already existing ideas.
Flashlight
Physics concept: Optics
Age Group: 5 and up
What is it?
This toy is essentially a flashlight. There is a power button at the end of the handle for the white light that the flashlight emits. Above the light bulb is a section that will fit cylindrical inserts. The flashlight comes with various cylinders that have differently shaped holes. Each hole corresponds to a clear plastic shape.
Once the correct shape is placed in a cylinder and that cylinder is placed in the handle the light is affected in different ways. Some of the clear plastic shapes are just picture projections. One is a prism that causes the white light of the flashlight to become rainbow colored.
Inspiration
I got the idea to do this from a kaleidoscope. I wanted to do something optics-based and I know that kids like colorful things.
Magnetic Tiles
Physical concept: Magnetism
Age Group: 8 and Up
What is it?
This toy is a set of tessellation tiles that are large enough for a child to be unable to place them in their mouth. The tiles are weak magnets that can be used on fridges or a large magnetic board that comes with them.
Inspiration
I got the idea for this from the tessellation tiles I used to play with as a kid. I remember spending hours on them and I wanted to adapt them to demonstrate a physics concept somehow. Magnetism was the simplest way to make this toy more physics based.
Drum
Physical concept: Sound waves
Age Group: 0 and Up
What is it?
This toy is a drum that has a clear plastic top. Directly below the clear plastic top is a sealed plastic bag that contains a viscous, non-toxic colored liquid with glitter and small stars, etc. When a child strikes the drum the sound waves from the drum cause the liquid to move and visually demonstrate sound waves.
Inspiration
I know that children love hitting things. Since they'd already be inclined to hit objects I figured I would provide an object that is acceptable to hit. Drums are made for striking and they make lots of noise, which kids enjoy as well. The next logical thing would be to make the sound waves visible somehow to the kids, which is why I decided to include the liquid below the top.
This project was definitely really fun. Coming up with toy concepts isn't really like anything I've ever done before. I got stuck a lot because I would either throw out ideas immediately or stick to one for too long. I found that if I just wrote down a bunch of ideas as I thought of them and then chose one to refine it made the creative process a lot easier.
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