storygarden – children's toy

 

a project by Tjeerd IJtsma and Carolin Altenkirch

 

supervising professors: Mathieu Gielen

November 2008, semester 9


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The toy "storygarden" should evoke children around the age of four, to explore outside play on their own in a way that it can be combined with their current inside play.

 

The toy consists of different elements, such as boxes, paths, slopes, houses and plant-inlays. The boxes can be connected side by side by magnets, or they can be stacked onto each other to build high. The slopes are used to connect the levels and can also invite to extend the play over the borders of the toy.

 

The elements invite the children to construct a landscape. The boxes can be filled with natural or man-made objects that the children find while exploring the outside and the inside. The play can be extended to imaginative play if the children include figures and cars in their play.

 

The toy gives the child enough inspiration for the play, but as few restrictions as possible.