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Hanzi Storytelling Box Блок-Игрушка by Jiayu Yao

Hanzi Storytelling Box Блок-Игрушка by Jiayu Yao is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2023 Железная премия A' Design Award in Дизайн образования, учебных пособий и обучающего контента Competition Category.


ЖелезнаяОбразование· 2023

Hanzi Storytelling Box Блок-Игрушка

by Jiayu Yao

Client: Zhejiang University

Железная премия A' Design Award Winner in Образование Category

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The Design

About Hanzi Storytelling Box Блок-Игрушка

Hanzi Storytelling Box — это инновационный игрушечный блок, который делает изучение китайских иероглифов увлекательным и интерактивным для маленьких детей. Он использует пиктографическую природу символов, а также визуальные и слуховые элементы, чтобы помочь учащимся лучше распознавать и запоминать их. Сопутствующее приложение предоставляет дополнительные ресурсы для обучения, такие как слова, предложения, письменные штрихи и ассоциативные рисунки. Дети также могут записывать свои собственные истории китайских иероглифов и загружать их в блоки.

The Recognition

About the Железная премия A' Design Award

Hanzi Storytelling Box Блок-Игрушка — лауреат Железной премии A' Design Award, престижного признания, присуждаемого хорошим проектам, которые отвечают профессиональным и промышленным требованиям, ожидаемым от хорошо продуманных творений. Обладатели Железной премии демонстрируют большое мастерство, высокую специализацию, экспертное понимание и творческие способности их авторов. Ожидается, что Hanzi Storytelling Box Блок-Игрушка станет высокоценимым, вызывающим восхищение и дорогим сердцу творением, практичным и инновационным. Этот проект, получивший Железную премию A' Design Award, интегрирует лучшие отраслевые практики и обладает компетентными техническими характеристиками, сочетающимися с ноу-хау и талантом. Благодаря основательности Hanzi Storytelling Box Блок-Игрушка заслуживает уважения и создан для того, чтобы улучшать качество жизни, помогая сделать мир лучше.

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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