Sahana KanabarMaterials Technology 10B19th January 2015

Evaluation

Checklist:

Design SpecificationYES or NO?

The toy must not have small parts.YES

The toy must be educational to the child.YES

The toy is aimed at 3-year olds.YES

The child needs to be able to pick up the toy in their hand.YES

The toy must be made using materials in the schools workshop.YES

A child can play with the toy alone or in collaboration with other kids.YES

The toy must be useable inside.YES

Playing with the toy must involve the use of imagination.NO

The toy must be un-breakable.YES

The toy must be durable.YES

The toy must look nice. (survey)YES

Survey:https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2MC3H5J

Result from the survey:

100% of the people that completed my survey thought that my toy looked nice.

Overall my product has been very successful. It met all but one of the criteria, something I have never achieved in the past. If I had more time to work on my product than there would have been a few small changes I would have made but everything else I would have done the same.

My little brother tested my product as part of my testing to ensure its appeal and reliability. At three years old he is within my target age group. He seemed very excited to have something new to play with. This toy is a little different from what he normally plays with but he still found it fun. It was exciting for him to find out that the cogs fit together. The colours were also appealing; he did not notice the small chips or discolouration in the paint. It was great that for the most part all the differently sized cogs were able to fit together. The product was very interactive, it does not do anything you dont want it to, and also was great for collaboration. I was able to play with him but the same could be said for another child, sibling, parent or teacher.

In all strand but one my success criteria has been met. For Playing with the toy must involve the use of imagination I put no because my evidence was not conclusive, meaning there is room for improvement. Playing with the toy does not involve any rules but there are some limits just based on the physicality. It is hard to say for certain that the toy will be educational to the child but it certainly has a lot of potential. I put a yes simply because of my observations and knowledge of fine-motor skills, coordination and collaboration skills. The toy must look nice was the only question I turned into a survey, since it is clearly a matter of opinion. In the end it turned out that others agreed with me and think that my toy looks nice, making it appealing to other people.

I think the main strength of my product is its versatility. There are no limits to what the toy can be used for; it can also be mixed with other toys if that is what the child wants to do. MDF, the material used to make the toy, is very durable and was painted to be more appealing to a young audience. The toy is safe for children (no choking hazard) but also easy to use, perfect for developing fine-motor, coordination, and cooperation skills.

Much of my criterion consisted of simple specifications that could be determined through field and performance testing. Some of my specifications, such as The toy is aimed at 3-year olds is actually about my intent and does not deal with the actual product. I did make the toy after doing research on development at that age while keeping in mind what they find interesting, making this specification more than met. It was easiest for me to choose this age since I have a younger brother that is three. Other specifications were more practical, such as The toy must be made using materials in the schools workshop. I did not have the resources or time to work on the product outside of school so I needed to rely on what was easily available to me. This was one of the easiest specifications to meet. The toy is usable inside since it does not create a mess, which makes it appealing to parents and teachers as well as the children.

I needed the toy to not have parts that were small enough to pose a choking hazard, which I accomplished with ease. However, my toy is not too big that a child cannot pick it up easily. The width is not too much and the toy could also be picked up by any of the teeth. I really think the toy is great for collaboration since children can play together to create something, make patterns, etc. There are enough pieces to share and inspire creativity. MDF is a very sturdy material that is unbreakable, particularly with a width of 16mm. The only part of the toy that might not be durable is the paint.

While the toy seems very successful there are a few drawbacks. The paint is not as durable as the MDF and will wear down over time, reducing the appeal of the toy. I spent some time filing the pieces however, there are still some rough areas that could be smoothed down to prevent splinters. Only some of the cogs are able to fit together. The smallest size, the yellow, does not have big enough gaps for the pieces to fit together, which limits how the toy can be played with. That was one of the things I hoped the pieces would be able to do but I was only half successful. There is an online site (https://woodgears.ca/gear_cutting/template.html) that would have allowed me to test the measurements I wanted. Then I could have tested the cogs before they were cut, to ensure they could do everything I wanted.

While I like the bright colours of my product the paint I used is not the most durable. Having durable paint would also make the product last longer, and keep its appearance new. Although the material is durable the paint gets scratched and suffers from discolouration. It would have been better to create the product out of coloured material but that was not possible with the MDF and what was available in the school workshop. The children will probably not notice the small discrepancies but since I want my product to be the best it can be this would be an important change.

The product should not be marketed as improving the lives of 3-year olds but it can benefit them in a number of ways. As an educational toy my product would be teaching children fine-motor skills along with hand-eye co-ordination and co-operation skills. These skills are very important to a childs development and will help them to do a wide variety of things in the future.

Since toys are fun and children are eager to use them my product could have a large impact if used often enough. With twelve pieces it should be a simple task to share and play with other children. Co-operation skills are very important in life and are best developed when young. This also creates more diversity in the toy when a child can use it alone or with others. Fine-motor skills are the co-ordination of small muscle movement. Developing these muscles are what allow children to hold a pencil and brush their teeth. If my toy can do anything to help children improve these important skills than I will consider my solution a success and beneficial to their lives.