Hanzi Storytelling Box 블록 장난감은 by Jiayu Yao

Hanzi Storytelling Box 블록 장난감은 by Jiayu Yao is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2023 A' Design Award 철상 in 교육, 교구 및 교육 콘텐츠 디자인 Competition Category.

철교육· 2023

Hanzi Storytelling Box 블록 장난감은

by Jiayu Yao

Client: Zhejiang University

A' Design Award 철상 Winner in 교육 Category

23,202

Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #149040

View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Hanzi Storytelling Box 블록 장난감은

Hanzi Storytelling Box는 어린이들이 한자를 재미있고 상호작용적으로 학습할 수 있게 해주는 혁신적인 장난감 블록입니다. 시각적, 청각적 요소와 함께 문자의 그림적 특성을 사용하여 학습자가 문자를 더 잘 인식하고 기억하도록 돕습니다. 함께 제공되는 앱은 단어, 문장, 획 쓰기, 연관 그림과 같은 추가 학습 리소스를 제공하며 어린이는 자신의 한자 이야기를 녹음하여 블록에 업로드할 수도 있습니다.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award 철상

Hanzi Storytelling Box 블록 장난감은, 이 작품은 A' Design Award 철상 수상작으로, 잘 디자인된 창작물에 기대되는 전문적·산업적 요건을 충족하는 좋은 디자인에 수여되는 권위 있는 인정입니다. 철상 수상작은 창작자의 뛰어난 기술, 높은 전문성, 전문가다운 이해, 창의적 역량을 보여 줍니다. Hanzi Storytelling Box 블록 장난감은, 이 작품은 높이 평가받고 감탄과 사랑을 받는 창작물로서 실용적이고 혁신적일 것으로 기대됩니다. 이 철상 수상 디자인은 업계 모범 사례를 통합하며 노하우와 재능으로 연결된 유능한 기술적 특성을 갖추고 있습니다. Hanzi Storytelling Box 블록 장난감은, 이 작품은 철저함으로 존중받으며 삶의 질을 개선하여 세상을 더 나은 곳으로 만들도록 디자인되었습니다.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Hanzi Storytelling Box is a meaningful block toy that supports young children to engage with Chinese characters in a more friendly way. The toy kit uses the pictographic nature of characters, blending visual and auditory to help learners recognize and remember them. The toy divides characters into three categories by theme: nature (yellow), people (blue), and artifacts (red). Young children are encouraged to appreciate the beauty of Chinese characters, explore their mysteries, and find learning fun and engaging.
Dimensions & Packaging: Chinese character module: 50mm*50mm*6mm and 70mm*70mm*6mm Speech recognition module: 140mm*140mm*70mm Specifications: LED, Speaker, RFID Tag and Reader, Button, Battery
Tags: Education, Young children, Block toy, Chinese characters, Electronic toys
Production Technology: TECHNOLOGY: UX design process, Rhinoceros, Keyshot, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Arduino, Electronic circuit technology MATERIALS: Wooden
Design Challenge: The first challenge was to categorize and classify the Chinese characters that preschoolers need to learn. The toy divided these characters into three categories based on their meanings and used different colors to show the distinction. The second challenge was to visualize the characters by creating easy-to-understand patterns that fit their meanings. To do this, the toy described the meaning of each character through a one-sentence story in relation to its pattern.
Research: By combining Montessori's sensitive period for senses and Piaget's constructivism theories, and conducting a user study with children aged 3-6 years, the toy uses common objects in daily life as visual representations of Chinese characters. The existing knowledge of the children was utilized to assimilate new knowledge of Chinese characters. The radicals are key to learning Chinese characters, and the Hanzi Storytelling Box allows for free combinations between radical blocks to form different Chinese characters with clear visual elements that present the role of different radicals in the overall Chinese character.
Inspiration: Children often consider Chinese characters to be complex, boring, and irregular, which leads to children's anxiety about learning Chinese characters. By analyzing the cognitive characteristics, age characteristics, and literacy rules of lower-grade students, the Hanzi Storytelling Box is designed based on the "child-oriented" design principle.
Project Duration: The project started in March 2022 and finished in October 2022 in Ningbo.
Operation Flow: First, the child can freely play with the character blocks. They can place a single block or combine two blocks to form a specific character on the Storytelling Box. After pushing the box button, the description of the Chinese characters and the related fable will be broadcasted by the box. Secondly, the accompanying app allows users to record their own Chinese character stories and play them with the physical toy. The app also provides additional learning resources, such as words, sentences, writing strokes, associative drawing, and review. These resources can help children learn Chinese characters holistically and easily.
Team Members: Jiayu Yao
Jing Zhang
Jiayi Ma
Yuqi Zhang
Weijia Lin
Sheng Yang
Shuyue Feng
Cheng Yao
Image Credits: Jiayu Yao、Jiayi Ma、Jing Zhang，2022