Creating an interactive object to aid children in the Sudan Gorom refugee camp growing up in traumatic circumstances.
(2024)
Revealing creativity and play
through small, meaningful connections.
A student project used for real healing.
BIRCH PLYWOOD
SOLID ASH WOOD
2 MONTH PROJECT
CO-DESIGNED WITH
RESEARCH
Play not only has a vital role in a child's development, similarly to sleeping or eating, but is also their right, as declared in the United Nations Article 31. This project focuses on children living in conditions that have stripped away this right, helping heal and bring creativity during a key point of life. The power of play should never be underestimated—for when it comes to a child's life, there is never such thing as too much play.
"Play nourishes a child’s body, mind, and soul. During the magic of play, children connect with their peers and develop their mental and social skills, they take risks, make sense of the world, and regulate their emotions. Play is the only time that children are in control of their lives. They get to create, imagine, and experience joy." – The Power of Play CEO, Reza Marvasti
Our intentions with this project were to help children in refugee camps cope with traumatic experiences, heal, and grow in social, emotional, and motor skills.
CONCEPT
This project was designed to be easily manufacturable, using simple repetitive shapes to inspire creativity within the context of refugee camps.
We were excited by themes of balance and cognitive learning through play. We wanted to make an object that could be used singularly or for social play, as well as allow for the introduction of found materials (ie. tieing string to the edges)
Although simple, the idea of a modular spinning top appealed to us for its endless versatility.
Some of the affordances we came up with are:
- It's the ability to learn motor skills and balance through trial and error of the different discs, finding which configuration spun the best
- Using the spinning as a gamified timer
- Configured to be a wheel and axel
- Having space for outside materials to be tied onto the rings, placed inside, etc.
These are just a few of the considerations we thought of, but the hope is that children, in their endless creativity, would find the way to play that brought them the most joy, our job was to simply facilitate.
CREATION
The colours and graphics chosen are based on traditional Sudanese dance attire. There are 60+ different ethno-tribal groups in Sudan, each with their own dress and dance, although a common thread is jumping and spinning, which matches the movement of our object. The patterns are designed to dance and morph as the object spins similarly to these dances.
All aspects of TOPO were heavily considered for ease of manufacturing, allowing for many to be produced quickly and cheaply.
Note: This is an ongoing project!
Currently, our team is working with the University of British Columbia Psychology Department and The Power of Play to iterate and send this piece to South Sudan refugee camps in February 2025.