DIY Renewable Energy Teaching Toy

Wood craft kit introducing 8-10 year olds to wood working fundamentals and reusable energy.
To be assembled at home under adult supervision or in conjunction with The Home Depot’s Future Doers classes.

The kit comes with pre-cut/sanded wood pieces, hardware, a DC-motor, light, and stickers. The Pixie House catches wind outside during the day and lights up at night.

Role:
Designer in Client Project with
The Home Depot & HouseWorks

Skills:
Sketching, Photoshop, Illustrator,
Fusion 360, Keyshot, laser cutter

Working prototype made with laser cut cardboard.

Velcro straps flip open for easy access
to battery component.

Roof base slides out for access to
inside of house.

Client Wants:

The Home Depot, the largest home improvement retailer in the US, wants to introduce a wood craft DIY kit for kids.

Context: Future Doers Workshop hosted monthly by THD for kids age 7-10 to build a keepsake while learning the fundamentals of woodworking.

Houseworks, wood toy wholesaler to The Home Depot, specializing in kits for their Future Doers Workshop.

Context: Covid lockdown has put a pause on the Future Doers workshop and shifted the design team’s focus to retail craft kits.

Design Requirements
from Houseworks:

80% made of wood
SIMPLE hardware
LITTLE assistance from parent to assemble needed
STEM element in toy
LESS than 1 hour assembly
appropriate for 8-10 year olds

Observations:

1. Gap in assembly toys with electronic components for 6-8 year olds.

2. Kids are beginning to be introduced to the concept of renewable energy as early as
Kindegarten where learning toys and hands-on activities are important tools for teachers,

3. Majority of STEM toys are marketed to appeal to young boys
(chosing only male models, working with only traditionally “boy” brands as liscensors, etc.)

Trend Predictions:

1. As kids are introduced to screens and technology at an increasingly younger age, parents
will encourage any curiosity their children may have to electronics under the pretext of learning.

2. As toys become less gendered there will be a growing market for gender-neutral STEM toys for
both the classroom and at home.

Ideation

I chose to further explore the “windmill-powered pixie house” since it could fit both The Home Depot and Housework’s branding.

Throughout form exploration, I was focused on making my design appear gender-neutral yet whimsical.

I also had to consider making the assembly process kid-friendly and incorporating the electronics in a seamless way

I went online to find wholesalers that already had simple wind power technology in kits to show HouseWorks that the components could be easily sourced.

I found this teaching toy on Amazon for
$15 and its individual electronic parts for $5 on AliExpress.

I realized there had to be two compartments for the house: one to hold the electronics and another where the “Pixies” would be.

I decided for simplicity and ease of use, that the roof should have a flipping component to have access to the battery and the inside of the house

After several prototypes testing various mechanisms for the arms, I found that elastic was the best solution.