Giving a child space to imagine and share
In the fall of 2022 during my graduate program, myself and a fellow student were tasked to interview a child and create an educational toy tailored to their needs and interests. This was to be in the spirit of Seymour Papert’s constructionism, where the toy can serve as a “thing to think with”. Further, my partner and I hoped to fulfill another key tenet of constructionism by allowing the child to put their creativity on display.
When I first met Alice, one thing was made clear: She loves sheep. In fact, within ten minutes of meeting her, Alice leaned in and quietly confided, “Actually, I prefer to be called ‘Sheep’”. Across two interview sessions, we became acquainted with this bright, verbose, and wildly imaginative little four year old. We discovered not only did she love sheep, she also loved to draw and paint. Between the photos her grandmother had shared with us and the themes she chose for her paintings, we understood that she held a certain affinity for boats and ships as well.
Art Boat is a vessel in more ways than one. With plenty of room for Alice’s sheep friends, they could sail the Seven Seas to their hearts content. Further, the ship’s deck (adorned with a sheep), is covered with chalkboard paint and can retract to reveal cargo space for art supplies and other treasures. The body of the ship is lightly primed, allowing for its owner to dress it in any manner of paint. The showstopper however is the ship’s mast, where Alice could attach her latest artwork as a sail for the ship. If you’re wondering what she thought of it, when we revealed the final product to Alice, her eyes grew big as saucers and she squeaked, “Sheeeep!?” — And as of fall 2023, her grandmother says she’s still taking that boat everywhere, even into the bath.
