🧸 Toy Design: Engineering for Play with Purpose

In this hands-on engineering unit, students become toy designers and engineers, challenged to create an original toy that is fun, safe, durable, and engaging for a specific user. Working in collaborative design teams, students move through the full engineering design process — from identifying a problem to testing, improving, and communicating a final solution.

Students begin by analyzing what makes toys successful, considering factors such as user needs, safety, materials, cost, and play value. They define a clear design problem, brainstorm ideas, create models and prototypes, and test their designs using feedback and data. Throughout the unit, students are encouraged to persevere through challenges, revise their ideas, and work effectively as a team.

The unit culminates in a Toy Design Expo, where teams present their final products, explain their design choices, and reflect on how their toy improved through multiple iterations.

Student Challenges Include:
📌 Defining and delimiting a toy design problem
📌 Creating and analyzing toy models and prototypes
📌 Testing, modifying, and improving designs
📌 Communicating design ideas through sketches, presentations, and explanations
📌 Developing and evaluating a final solution
📌 Demonstrating perseverance and teamwork throughout the process

Final Products May Include:

• A student design notebook or planning packet

• Sketches, models, and working toy prototypes

• Written or oral design explanations

• A final presentation or Toy Design Expo display

Learning Areas:
Engineering & Design • Creativity & Innovation • Problem Solving • Communication Skills • Collaboration & Perseverance

This unit empowers students to see themselves as engineers and designers, emphasizing creativity, critical thinking, and resilience — all through the familiar and motivating context of play.