Hanzi Storytelling Box Blokspeelgoed by Jiayu Yao is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2023 A' Design Award in IJzer in Onderwijs, Leermiddelen en Trainingsinhoud Ontwerp Competition Category.
IJzerOnderwijs· 2023
Hanzi Storytelling Box Blokspeelgoed
by Jiayu Yao
Client: Zhejiang University
A' Design Award in IJzer Winner in Onderwijs Category
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- Verified Award Winner
- Verify Award Status for #149040
The Design
About Hanzi Storytelling Box Blokspeelgoed
De Hanzi Storytelling Box is een innovatief speelgoedblok dat het leren van Chinese karakters leuk en interactief maakt voor jonge kinderen. Het maakt gebruik van de pictografische aard van karakters, samen met visuele en auditieve elementen, om leerlingen te helpen ze beter te herkennen en te onthouden. De bijbehorende app biedt extra leermiddelen, zoals woorden, zinnen, schrijfstreken en associatief tekenen. Kinderen kunnen ook hun eigen Chinese karakterverhalen opnemen om te uploaden naar blokken.
The Recognition
About the A' Design Award in IJzer
Hanzi Storytelling Box Blokspeelgoed is winnaar van de A' Design Award in IJzer, een prestigieuze erkenning die wordt toegekend aan goede ontwerpen die voldoen aan de professionele en industriële eisen die worden verwacht van goed ontworpen creaties. Winnaars in IJzer tonen grote vaardigheid, hoge specialisatie, deskundig inzicht en het creatieve vermogen van hun makers. Hanzi Storytelling Box Blokspeelgoed wordt verwacht een hooggewaardeerde, bewonderde en gekoesterde creatie te zijn die praktisch en innovatief is. Dit ontwerp dat de A' Design Award in IJzer heeft gewonnen, integreert de beste praktijken uit de sector en heeft bekwame technische kenmerken die verbonden zijn met knowhow en talent. Hanzi Storytelling Box Blokspeelgoed wordt gerespecteerd om zijn grondigheid en is ontworpen om verbeteringen van de levenskwaliteit te bieden die helpen de wereld een betere plek te maken.
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
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