Iron Toys, Games and Hobby Products Design · 2023
Elephant Geometry Mathematical Early Education Toys
by Shanghai Art and Design Academy
- A' Design Award 2023 Iron Winner in Toys, Games and Hobby Products Design
- Awarded April 15, 2023
- CLIENT: Shanghai Art and Design Academy
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 24,113
- Verification code 572ED1B2E3 · Verify this award
About Elephant Geometry Mathematical Early Education Toys
Elephant Geometry is a mathematics education toy for children over four years old. The design draws on the traditional Chinese story of Cao Chong weighing an elephant, in which equivalent replacement is used to find a weight. Small magnetic triangular and square blocks are joined on a magnetic board to form patterns such as animals and fruits. The area of each pattern is then found by counting the blocks. Cards inserted through a side groove guide play from simple to difficult tasks. The blocks and the board are made of ABS with magnetic discs.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- This is a mathematical enlightenment toy for children over four years old. The concept of "equivalent replacement" is extracted from " Cao Chong Weighs the elephant ". Use single triangular and square magnetic accretion blocks to spell out irregular patterns (such as animals, fruits and other patterns that children like), and calculate the area according to the number of blocks.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Body: 327 mm long × Width 232 mm × Height 48 mm
Building blocks: isosceles right triangle with side length of 10mm, isosceles right triangle with side length of 20mm, square with side length of 10mm, square with side length of 20mm - Tags
- Early education toys, mathematical enlightenment, area algorithm
- Production Technology
- Production materials: ABS, magnetic disc, paper
Implementation technology: CNC processing, painting, 3D printing (building blocks) - Design Challenge
- 1. Adsorption strength of magnetic disks
2. Thickness of acrylic plate - Project Duration
- The project will start in March 2022 and end in March 2023 at Shanghai
- Operation Flow
- The small card instruction manual guides children step by step how to play the game from simple to deep, from easy to difficult, and gradually learn the area algorithm to improve the children's computing ability. The A4 large card can be inserted from the side groove and placed between the transparent board and the magnetic absorption white board. The pattern can be pieced out through the silhouette shape on the card, and the area can be calculated according to the calculation formula for guidance on the card. The white board is a common A4 paper size. Children can also doodle shapes and spell out their own works. The collage board and the building blocks are inlaid with magnetic plates. The building blocks can be adsorbed on the collage board. After the collage, the frame can be placed on the table for display or decoration, to increase the children's sense of achievement and self-confidence.
- Research
- Regarding the research on the progress of elementary school mathematics, in general, second grade students learn multiplication and division, while third grade students learn fractions, decimals, circumference, and area calculation. The positioning of age groups requires practical analysis and appropriate positioning.
- Inspiration
- The traditional Chinese story "Cao Chong Weighs the elephant" tells that Cao Chong used the method of "equal replacement" to replace the elephant with many stones, and made marks on the boat to make the elephant and the stone have the same effect,then the weight of the elephant can be obtained. We combine the "equivalent substitution" in the story with the area algorithm, so that children can learn the area calculation in the process of shape matching.
- Image Credits
- Nana Liao
Yuxuan Zhang
Sha Yang