Toy Design : Play and The Act of Play
PLAY+ TOY
PLAY + TOY
Continuous Assessment
Final Assignment: Toy Design : Play and The Act of Play – Individual
(40% marks from 100% overall marks)
Submission: Week 7 (4 weeks)
Lecturers:
Paul Nickson Atia (paulnickson.anakatia@taylors.edu.my)
Hanim Bahauddin (hanim.bahauddin@taylors.edu.my)
Sarah Abedi Abdullah (sarahabedi.abdullah@taylors.edu.my)
Akmal Nordin (akmal.nordin@taylors.edu.my)
ABSTRACT : Play
Remember when we were kids, we would be building fortress or houses
made of stacked pillow cushions, we would pick up a wooden stick or tree
branch pretending to start shooting the enemies in a battlefield? We
turned empty water bottles or chopstick into drums or drumstick, and we
would proudly be riding our horses made from the pillow cushions. You
need only a piece of towel or clothe as a cape, you are now a Superman or
Batman. Any found items or daily objects around us are turned into toys
or repurposed and rethinking into objects of play.
The possibilities of ideas in making or creating a play is limitless;
quite literally.
Maria Montessori, an Italian physician, and educator best known for
the philosophy of education that bears her name, and her writing on
scientific pedagogy highlighted in her book The Absorbent Mind (1949)
the importance of play in a child’s development. “Play is the work of the
child”, said Montessori. Children are believed to value the processes and
the act of play more than the ends.
“All play is associated with intense thought activity and rapid
intellectual growth. The highest form of research is essentially play.
Einstein is quoted as saying, “The desire to arrive finally at logically
connected concepts is the emotional basis of a vague play with basic
ideas. This combinatory or associative play seems to be the essential
feature in productive thought”” (N.V.,Scarfe, Play is Education,
Childhood Education, 1962)
play
/pleɪ/
engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose.
toy
/tɔɪ/
an object for a child to play with, typically a model or miniature replica of something.
Objectives
1. To train students in the ideation process using the concept of
deductive reasoning and questioning in building up the narratives and
justification of ideas.
2. To execute ideation into building the prototype of the design and
demonstration of its application.
3. To explore and develop ideas from various sources, materials and
techniques.
PLAY + TOY
Learning outcomes
Upon completion of the assignment, students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate and apply critical and creative solutions to respond
to design constraints, the scenario or situation in developing the
project using visualizations, diagrams, drawings, infographics, etc.
2. Understand the importance of application of DESIGN THINKING SKILLS in
developing and building a project.
Task-Methodology
Scenario
You are a designer in a design company assigned to the children’s and
youth’s department to design a toy or an object of play.
Body parts and movements are synonymous with toys as they are the
enablers for the play or the act of play to take place.
Different body parts and movements respond differently to a toy
when performing a play or the act of play.You will be assigned A
BODY PART as your main focus in designing the toy. Your task is to
design a toy based on the body part assigned to you.
Body Parts :
1. Head
2. Neck & Shoulder
3. Arms
4. Wrist & Hand
5. Leg & Feet
PLAY + TOY
Materials :
• Category 1: Recycled Materials – wrappers, paper bag, plastic bags,
boxes, woods, polystyrene, aluminium, etc.
• Category 2: Found Objects – old figurines, toys, sports equipments, old
books, plant’s foliage, old machine parts, etc.
• Category 3: Daily Objects – old clothes, old footwears, old bags,
ropes, kitchen utensils, household wares, etc.
The design of the toy can only use the materials from the categories
listed above.
Your toy must be of manually operated and cannot be battery operated or
electronic operated. Please refer to the keywords provided to assist your toy
design.
Design Thinking Tasks
• EMPATHY – to present by using visual notes, sketches, drawings,
diagrams and etc. the questions, research and investigation on play
and the act of play, toy or object of play, materials and resources,
general understanding of the assigned body part and its movement.
• DEFINE – to present analysis and understanding based on the findings.
To provide the aim, narratives, overall concept and the understanding
of the materials. Provide/state initial design ideas of the toy or
object of play based on the assigned body part and its movements and
the materials.
• IDEATION – to propose a minimum of three (3) design ideas of toy or
the object of play in details using sketches, drawings, diagrams,
visualizations, and etc. Design ideas should include the narratives
and your concept, materials selected; to respond and react to the
assigned body part and of its movements. Select one (1) final idea to
be developed in prototyping.
• PROTOTYPE – Execution of idea; to develop and create/build the toy or
the object of play using the materials selected. The prototyping and
development of the built toy should involve modifications, amendments
and improvements.
• PRESENTATION – to name the final toy or object of play and to create
an infographic poster with labels and annotations.
PLAY + TOY
Important Note: Designed TOY or OBJECT of PLAY must RESPOND to your ASSIGNED
BODY PART and its MOVEMENTS when performing PLAY or THE ACT OF PLAY.
Submission requirements:
1. PDF/POWERPOINT slide compilation of your DESIGN THINKING working
process.
2. A video recording demonstration of you playing and interacting with
the designed toy in different angles and views.
PLAY + TOY
References
Please note that these are suggested references; students are encouraged
to perform own independent learning and research for alternative
references. Other suggested references will also be provided from time to
time on FB or TIMES posting.
• https://theconversation.com/how-john-berger-changed-our-way-of-seeing-
art-70831
• Marnie Campagnaro – The Function of Play in Bruno Munari’s Children’s
Books. A Historical Overview
• https://www.mariamontessori.com/2013/09/26/the-five-characteristics-
of-play-and-of-montessori-work/
• https://gseuphsdlibrary.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/the-absorbent-
mind-montessori
• https://fs.blog/2014/04/einstein-productive-thought-combinatory-
creativity/
http://www.mariamontessori.com/2013/09/26/the-five-characteristics-