Playtime is of the most important, and memorable pastimes of childhood. Play is the first and most crucial education a child indulges in. Play develops physical and mental health, motor, social, cognitive, and language skills, while enhancing creativity and confidence. The MIT Toy Lab was founded in 2004, and is dedicated to the exploration of creative design.
This course is an introduction to the product design process with a focus on designing for play and entertainment. The students work in small teams of 5 to 6 members to design and prototype new toys. The course is structured so that there is a local sponsor, an elementary school, and experienced mentors. Students go through the entire process right from determining customer needs, to final prototyping and presentation to the community. The interesting aspect of the course is each year there is a theme, which students have to work under, such as toys that promote dental hygiene, to toys that can be inexpensively manufactured in Brazil, and toys that inspire and teach science and engineering.
Some interesting toys are Stack-It, Harry Potter's magical toothbrush which appears to be floating. Then there is Lux, a toy animal that eats colors from the world and mixes them in its stomach teaching additive color mixing (the light theory). Cell Slap is a card game that teaches which organelles are present in different kinds of cells, definitely a more fun way to learn Biology than from a text book.
The first few weeks of the course are dedicated to idea generation and brainstorming, during which the team comes up with hundreds of ideas, out of which they finalise on four. The team then produces sketch models of those four concepts, which test the feasibility and value of the concept.
Toy design is a blend of product design, engineering, pedagogy, aesthetics, and more. It is an area of huge potential, and importance, as toys can be much more than just 'playthings', as some of the toys on the MIT site show. The word 'toy' generally brings to mind Barbies and train sets and little sports cars. But toys can be powerful tools that enhance the educational experience, making much more holistic, engaging, and inculcate values in children too.
In his autobiography, Frank Lloyd Wright credits his visual-spatial ability to the Froebel blocks he played with as a child. These were a range of educational material advocating the importance of free-play in childhood. Wright says, ""For several years I sat at the little Kindergarten table-top . . . and played . . . with the cube, the sphere and the triangle—these smooth wooden maple blocks . . . All are in my fingers to this day . . . ."
The toys of today make the people of tomorrow.
By Armeen Kapadia
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