[T519] Dream Toy Project: Interview

This week, I began collaborating with David on our Dream Toy project.
 
Drawing on our experiences as elementary school teachers, we believed it would be easier to communicate with a child who shares a similar cultural background. We set out to find a Korean child to participate, and fortunately, we were able to connect with a boy.
 
Prior to meeting him, David and I met to design our interview questions. As it was our first time meeting the child, we wanted to make sure our questions would help him feel comfortable. We made questions about his interests and the types of playful activities he enjoys with his friends at school. Additionally, we planned to ask about his favorite learning activities.
 
To better understand his possible experiences and interests, we also reviewed the national curriculum to infer which learning activities he might be most familiar with.
 

Script: 

School
Who is your best friend at school?
What do you do during recess or break time?
Do you like playing outside or inside?

Family
How do you play at home?
What do you play with your brother? Mom and dad?
What do you want to be when you grow up?

Toy 
What is your favorite toy to play with?
If we could build you a toy, what would you want?
How big would you want the toy?
What kind of texture do you like?

Other
What is your favorite color?

 
Our experience as teachers was definitely helpful throughout this process.
I drew upon some of the interview skills and questions I typically use at the beginning of the school year.
These strategies are essential for understanding and supporting my students’ learning effectively!
 
As the interviewee was a boy, we came up with ideas related to physical activities.

• Something that can be played together (with others)
• Something that involves physical movement
• Something that you can touch or interact with on a wall (e.g., motion tap)
• A cone-shaped object that lights up
• Hopscotch game—where you can adjust/modify the size

https://theoriginalflyorb.com/products/the-original-fly-orb?variant=42142377410802&country=US¤cy=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21183834934&gbraid=0AAAAAoT7qzBNg92AegUItfKZYpm6YihlE&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0NPGBhCDARIsAGAzpp0Tm2KxolNgqRBmbGE263tiWHGA1TBAxX_alRys0eWYiL1zkgU01HgaAnYGEALw_wcB 

The Original Fly Orb Hover Ball

 

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Owl was the animal he chose! (It was a surprising gift)

 
I truly enjoyed listening to him talk about his favorite activities and interests. Although he guided much of the conversation, we were able to ask all of our prepared questions, and he responded sincerely to each one. He is a child who enjoys making things with others, whether it’s with friends or his older brother, and his favorite animation is Pokémon. He also likes activities that involve aiming and hitting targets, such as playing with Nerf guns or basketball. Overall, his favorite activities seem to give him a sense of achievement and allow him to manipulate different elements.
 
One challenge for me was understanding the differences in his experiences growing up in the United States. While the learning content at school was similar to what I was familiar with, the materials and toys he played with were quite different from those I knew. Fortunately, David was able to identify the names of some of the toys the child mentioned! Also, since most of my teaching experience has been with 5th and 6th graders, his play style was noticeably different from that of my usual students. I wanted to ask a variety of questions to encourage him to share more about himself, but sometimes I wasn’t sure what to ask. I was very conscious of balancing letting him guide the conversation with gathering enough information to help us design his dream toy.

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Based on insights from the interview, we brainstormed several ideas and ultimately decided to create a set of targets. He had mentioned his interest in making a wrist-mounted Nerf shooter using CrunchLabs kits, so we designed the targets to align with this interest. The targets will be round plates that can either stand on the ground or attach to a wall. Since he prefers hard textures, we plan to construct them out of wood. The center of each target will feature a transparent acrylic window, allowing him to insert his own drawings and customize the designs—giving him a sense of agency and creative freedom.
Each target will consist of two layered acrylic plates with a thin space between them. When the target is hit, the plates come together and activate a pressure sensor placed between them. This sensor will then trigger lights and sounds, making the interaction more engaging. We plan to use coin cell batteries to power these effects. I'm really excited to work on this project!