With the goal for my workshop clear, (to give children a chance to design their own toys), I had the following three things to work out 1) What is my 20% inspiration? 2) What materials and tools can I use so that children can do a maximum of the designing and making, independently from adult assistance? 3) How can I formalize character creation?
Providing just the right amount more than a blank canvas can unlock creative potential in children. This idea of determinism in toy design is something that CCM’s educational philosophy actually addresses at CCM, the idea of “20% inspiration” is essentially a way of avoiding under or over-determined design. The point is that adults interpose themselves in questions of character by conceiving, designing and making choices for children. Although a toy with a strong personality can inspire and prompt fantasy play, there is a risk that a toy’s narrative is so determined that it dampens creativity. Toys such as dolls and figures often come with inherent personality traits that kids intuitively pick up on slanted eyebrows with a smile evoke mischievousness, soft flowery colors evoke sweetness, and a muscular build with bold, primary colors evoke a heroic personality. Physical design elements of a toy character therefore influence the narrative in children’s fantasy play, and toys are becoming increasingly authored: “Toys today are a mass medium, a channel where stories get published in parallel to film, comics or computer games…(there is) a cross-breeding between the stories inscribed in toys and the stories invented by children during play”. Character traits across media, (such as film, animation, and computer games), are presented visually, audibly (through voice acting) and physically, something that is often exaggerated when marketed to children. Why should I be the creator, and children mere consumers? The material culture of childhood is, in many ways, shaped and imposed on children by adults. While toys function as story props for children engaging in narrative fantasy play, over-determined toys are actually influencing the stories and robbing kids of character design opportunities.Ĭhildren have a strong grasp of character, as they have been exposed to dozens of archetypes in fairytales and children’s literature and television programming from a young age. I came to the museum with a struggle I was interested in pursuing a career designing toys and media for children, but was frustrated with the idea of “selling” to kids. In the Animation Studio, children create their own characters to animate in imagined scenarios in the Innovation Lab, they design homes for flowers, ways to breathe in outer space, and Tyrannosaurus Rex dentures. For my first solo workshop as a Creative Fellow, I wanted to give children a chance to be character designers, combining my personal interests in toys and character design with my desire to create storytelling tools for children.
At the Children’s Creativity Museum, visitors are given many opportunities to be designers and storytellers.
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