The Beginning

As I enjoy creating colourful and exciting designs and have a passion for working with children I have decided that my honours project will explore a product designed for children.

I started with three initial ideas,

• A product that would actively encourage children to learn to cook

• Developing a unique swimming aid

• Children’s outdoor equipment

I have made the decision to explore cooking specifically as it’s a life skill that offers many learning opportunities but above all it’s a fun activity for children.

My goal is to create an effective and safe way to introduce children to participate frequently in household cooking. To do this I will commencing my research with -

• Existing products, what is already on the market? How effective are they? What can be improved upon?

• How children learn, what age should I target? What stage of learning should I be assisting? Is there an age range that this project would be inappropriate for?

• Child anthropometrics, a child’s grip is different to that of an adult and so it is important to asses how they're hands and actions may influence the design of the product.

So what next? I intend to make some links with child communities to preform research, and also meet with adults that work closely with children and/or cooking and also parents.