Design situation
In an
International school children speak many different languages. Sometimes this
can be a problem with interaction if the children have no common language.
Games can be a way of interacting and learning. Design and create fun games
that will help in improving interaction and development of pre-school children.
You need to design and create functional and safe games for the children.
The lack of a common
language has always been considered a problem when it comes to communicate;
however, I do not think that it is as big of a problem for little children.
Younger kids don´t really care about a language when they need to play with
their mates. The point of this project will be to create a tool for these kids
to interact more without necessarily having a common language. This game could
be a great opportunity for also improving language skills and involving
everyone in the class in one activity.
My aim will be to create
game that will allow kids to play all together with the same thing instead of
splitting in smaller groups depending on their different interests. I then need
to create a product that will satisfy both boy and girls and will be able to
have several children playing at the same time.
My idea was originally to
create some kind of board game but then I started thinking about what my
sisters and I liked when we were in pre-school; I realized that we actually
hated when adults tried to get us to play board games because that implied that
we had to sit down and don´t move for at least half an hour. At that age kids
really need to have the chance to move around and be able to modify the game if
they feel like it. Board games require concentration and time and there are
specific rules to follow which little children don´t always.
I then came up with the
following idea: a puppet show. Everyone knows what a puppet show is, so if I go
up to the children and give them a theatre and some puppets they will
automatically understand what they can do with it. Also a puppet shows will
allow them to have freedom when playing because there are no set rules and they
can spend as much time as they wish playing with it. The best thing with it is
that several children will be able to play with it depending on the amount of
puppets I will make but the rest can obviously sit down and look at the show
and then take turns. Another one advantage of a puppet show is that it is
really quick to prepare because the theatre will always be there and can be
just put in a corner of the class, when to tidy up the puppets it´s just enough
to literally through them in a box. I say that this is an advantage because
little kids hate to tidy up the game they just played with and usually always
end up leaving everything on the floor and easily get filled up with games made
of little pieces. Furthermore, having to put up a play will improve also the
language skills of the kids and allow them to interact with their friends
developing together in the one that will be their common language.
My research will be really
long for this project. First of all I need to study the best material for a
theatre aimed for little kids. Cardboard would do its job but because it is
really light it´s easy to make it fall down especially if you are a little kid
that doesn´t really pay attention at things around him/ her. Wood would be the
way to go but I need to find the best thin wood that wouldn´t hurt the
children. I will also have to research about building the actual structure. I
will try to keep as simple as possible so I can spend more time painting and
adding nice things to make it colourful and pretty to the children rather than
on the structure itself. The puppets will be actually the hardest thing to do
because I am terrible at sewing so I will have to learn. Also for them I will
try to keep the template as easy as possible so I can focus on making funny
faces that the kids will definitely prefer.
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Advantages of a puppet
show
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Common game: it will
be easy for the kids to understand how to play with it so no instructions are
needed.
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Freedom: it is a toy
with set rules so they will get freedom and decided themselves how and when
to play
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Time: also the time
is not set so they can stop whenever they want
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Several children
will be able to play: some kids can play with the puppets and the rest can
watch the show. They can take turns so this is an activity that involves the
entire class with no need of splitting in smaller groups
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Common
interest: often boys and girls and kids from different ages have different
interests but a puppet shows kind of involves everyone
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Tidying up: a puppet
show is quite a quick game so knowing that children usually leave everything
on the floor when they get sick of it then a puppet show is the easiest thing
because it´s enough to throw the puppets in a box and put the theatre in a
corner
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Language skills:
having to put up a small play will improve the kids ‘skills in the language
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Research plan:
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Type of research/ Research question
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Why is it important? Prioritize (1-10 when 1 is the
lowest and 10 is the highest)
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Type of source: primary or secondary? Why?
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Who is my client?
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It is extremely important to know what kind of client I
will work for because my product will be affected by it. Depending on who my
client is my product will change. My client in this case are young kids so my
product needs to fit them. However, I would like to create a puppet show that
will work for everyone both boys and girls and younger and older kids.
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10
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Primary
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Deciding who my client will be was my decision.
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How old is my client?
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It’s important to know what client you are working for
but also some characteristics about them so that I can make sure that my
product will fit them. The age range is highly important because I need to
create a game that they can definitely play with and that is safe for them.
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Primary
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Deciding who my client will be was my decision.
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Does my client need this kind of game? Why?
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The aim of my game is to create a game that doesn’t
require speaking so it will be a good chance for the kids to interact without
having a common language. This will allow them to spend time with other kids.
I also think that my puppet show will actually develop some language skills
when they use it.
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5
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Primary
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In order to find out about this I went to ISLK and
talked to the teachers of the lower PYP classes who thought that the idea of
a puppet show was really good for the kids.
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What are children interested in? Is there something
specific they want?
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Before I chose what game to create I researched about
kids’ interest so that I could avoid making something they would not like and
never use.
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9
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Primary
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I went to ISLK and talked directly to the kids that I
will test my final product on so that I could collect their opinions.
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Are the children going to like a puppet show?
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. I found out that the kids would really appreciate a
puppet show and most of the children I interviewed stated that they would gladly
play with it.
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4
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Primary
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I went to ISLK and talked directly to the kids that I
will test my final product on so that I could collect their opinions.
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What are the safety precautions that I need to take?
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This question is connected to the age of the kids so
that I can make sure I have something that fits them. This is connected to
the materials as well because they need to be safe. I will avoid having sharp
edges or objects and things that are too small. The theatre needs to be a
good size and quite stable so that it won’t fall on them. The puppets will be
soft.
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10
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Primary
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I went to ISLK and talked directly to the kids that I
will test my final product on so that I could collect their opinions. It is
personal experience.
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What specific size does my product need to be?
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I definitely don’t want to make something that is too
big or too small and doesn’t allow the kids to play with it. I need to make
sure that the theatre is the perfect size for them to play with their hands
and the puppets are ok for their small hands.
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9
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Primary
Secondary
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Primary: I went and saw many kids that my product is
aimed for so I have a rough idea of the size. I might actually go and look
specifically for a more accurate size.
Secondary: I researched on the internet tutorials on
how to build a puppet show and saw what size they were built in.
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Find out the best materials to build my product. What
materials are available to me?
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This question is connected to the safety of my product
as well. I want it to be as stable as possible and have soft puppets so that
the kids won’t get hurt. I should investigate different structure and
patterns for the theatre and the puppets and then make a list of materials I
need to have them in the bookshop.
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8
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Secondary
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I researched on the internet tutorials on how to build
a puppet show and sew the puppets so I more or less know what materials I
might need.
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Look at examples of puppet shows and puppets
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I will do this
in the next section: analysing existing products.
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6
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Secondary
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I will look up existing products and get inspiration
from those for my own project.
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How do you build a puppet show theatre?
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Because I have never built this kind of thing before
it’s important that I have an idea of what to do so I can write a plan and
then start creating.
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8
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Secondary
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I will look up tutorial probably on YouTube because I
prefer visual aids.
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How do you make puppets? Learn how to sew
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I have literally never sewed before so I have to learn
how to do it so I can get a better outcome.
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8
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Secondary
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I will look up tutorial probably on YouTube because I
prefer visual aids.
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Will the students be able to understand what to do with
my game?
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I thing that a puppet show is quite straight forward so
the kids will easily understand what to do with it without talking which
means I met the criteria.
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2
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Primary
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I can say this because of my personal experience of
meeting the lower PYPs at ISLK.
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What are kids’ favourite colours?
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In order to create a great colour scheme that can be
appreciated by younger kids both boys and girls I need to find out what the
children actually think about colours.
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7
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Primary
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This part of the research will be based on interviews
with younger kids.
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What are kids’ favourite characters?
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This connects to the colours as well because I won’t to
create characters that will be appreciated by all the kids.
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7
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Primary
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This part of the research will be based on interviews
with younger kids.
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Related concepts:
Appearance
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What will be the colour scheme of my product?
o What are
the kids’ favourite colours?
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What decorations will the puppet theatre have?
o What are
kids looking for?
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What characters will my puppet be?
o What are the
kids’ favourite characters?
Adaptation
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How does my product need to be adapted according to
the kids’ needs?
o What safety
precautions do I need to take?
§ Talk to
the teachers
o How old
are the kids?
Form
·
What size does the puppet show need to be?
o How tall
are the kids?
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What size do the puppets need to be?
o How big
are their hands?
Materials
·
What materials will the puppet show be built in?
o What materials
are available to me?
Function
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Do the kids need a puppet show?
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Will the kids like a puppet show?
Ergonomics
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What specific features will my product have?
o How will I
do the structure?
o What shape
will I use?
Talking to my client:
Here are some questions that
I will be asking the kids and will help me to develop some good designs later
on.
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How old are you?
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What is your favourite game?
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Do you like puppet shows?
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What is yoru favourite colour?
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What is your favourite animal/ character?
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How tall are you? (Might need some help from
parents and teachers for this)
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How big are your hands? ( I will only need this
to get an idea of how big the puppets need to be)
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Sources of information:
Children: the best thing
with this project is that I am allowed to have direct easy contact with my
client so that I can make sure I fulfil their wishes and work with something
they will like.
Teachers: as far as the safety
aspect is concerned I need a supervisor that spends most of his/ her time with
the kids. That way I can make sure I am creating a suitable project for the kids
and they can approve it and give me feedback.
The internet: it will be my
main source of inspiration as I can find many examples of puppet show and different
characters to build. There are no specific websites I will use.
Toyshop: this will be
another great way to get inspiration to see what has already been created and
how I could adapt it to make sure I am creating a different product. I will
also see what could be improved of each product I see.
Analysing existing products:
Puppet theatre
What is the structure of this
puppet theatre? Ergonomics and form
Is this product suitable
for the age group I am aiming for? Function
How do I like the decorations
and colour scheme of the theatre? Appearance
What materials were used to
build it? Materials
Is there something specific
I like about this theatre?
Product #1
Product #2
Product #3
Product #4
Product #5
Puppets
How big are these puppets? Is
there a way to adapt their size? Adaptation,
ergonomics and form
Are these characters that
the children will like? Function and appearance
How easy are these to make
for someone who doesn’t know how to sew? And what do I need? Materials
Is there something specific
I like about this theatre?
Product #1
Product #2
Product #3
Product #4
Product #5
