INTRO

VI INSPIRATION

Inspiration for this product initially came from play observations. A group of young, primary aged children were observed over the course of 4 weeks. This was to gather as much information as possible of how children play. What their preferences were, which elements of play were favourable and if there were any common themes and occurrences.

Research was fundamental to this project. For Lumi to be a success, knowledge on how children play and what they like to do with and without adult supervision was paramount.

This was quite a difficult task with Covid-19 restrictions and most observations were done with parents and through interviews via teams and facetime with the children.

The types of play that were observed and documented in the children through the observations were based on “The taxonomy of play types” in which Bob Hughes identifies 16 types of play that children display in normal development. The principles of the project were to give children more freedom during and post pandemic and this research helped form an insight into how children interact with one another and the world around them. It was noted that the more elements of play a toy or object have, the more likely the children will interact for longer, without getting restless or bored. This became the foundation for Lumi, to hit as many play elements as possible!

The older children were interviewed and asked what they wanted out of the project. It was important that the research was very much child orientated. Essentially, Lumi was made for children, by children!

HEY!