Design Thinking for Kids
story time
good books for bigs and littles
I’m currently going to school part-time (and still working full-time), which is why you may have noticed that Daycare and Development has moved from a weekly blog to a monthly blog. One of my courses focuses on using technology in informal learning environments: places like afterschool programs, computer clubhouses and, I would argue, blogs. I’ve learned so many new things already and I’m excited about the ways the class applies to my work at my job and here on the blog.
Dumpster designers at work
Design Thinking
A recent week in the above-mentioned course focused on something called Design Thinking. Design Thinking is both a method of design and a way of thinking. You might even say that it is a form of thinking through design. The stages of design thinking—described below—are: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test, and Reflect.
Empathize – Design thinking is about providing solutions to important problems for individuals and society…not just about making things look pretty.
Define – Define the problem. Gather information and create a plan for problem-solving.
Ideate – Spend time generating ideas. Don’t stall with an early concept. Continue asking “what else?”
Prototype – Create a quick, cheaply-generated prototype for solving the problem.
Test – Test the prototype. Decide how to measure success.
Evolution – Reflect on what worked and what didn’t. What materials, knowledge, or support will you need to create your next prototype?
One thing I really appreciate about design thinking is that it offers a growth mindset. Failure is courted rather than avoided, because making mistakes is part of the process of solving problems and generating creative solutions. The more errors made, the faster the solution arrives.
The Questioneers
Design Thinking in Kids’ Books
Not long after I learned about design thinking, I was reading books with my daughter and realized that I had happened upon two gems of design thinking for children: The Dumpster Diver and Rosie Revere Engineer.
In Rosie Revere Engineer by Andrea Beaty, Rosie, a tiny engineeress, is suffering from humiliation at the failure of her cheese hat. What, you may ask, is a cheese hat? The cheese hat was an invention using fan parts and string cheese, designed to keep snakes off of the head of Rosie’s favorite uncle, Zookeeper Fred (empathy). But when Fred sees the cheese hat, instead of being grateful or admiring, he laughs. Rosie is dismayed and hides her engineering habit away under her bed. Until….her great, great aunt Rose (a nod to Rosie the Riveter) arrives for a visit. Wistfully, great great aunt Rose recalls her many engineering feats but laments that she was never able to fly. Despite her emotional scars, Rosie crafts a cheese copter for Rose (prototype). It flies briefly and then fails (test). Rosie is dismayed once again, but Rose explains that the prototype was a success because it is a step along the path to a functional flying machine. She encourages Rosie to begin planning her next flying machine (evolution).
I’ve actually reviewed Rose Revere Engineer before, but what’s really cool is that Beaty has a new series of books (The Questioneers), for slightly older kids, based on some of her beloved characters. Rosie Revere and the Raucous Riveters, Ada Twist and the Perilous Pants, and Iggy Peck Architect all have roles and use their science, design, and thinking skills to solve real-world problems. There’s even a new character: Sofia Valdez, Future Prez. These are short chapter books ideal for K-second grade.
In The Dumpster Diver by Janet S. Wong, three kids aid their grown-up neighbor in recycling trash from the dumpster outside their apartment building. As a group they upcycle the junk into lamps, tables, and toys, despite the disapproval of their elderly neighbor. The real design thinking happens, however, when their ringleader is injured in a dumpster accident. The kids empathize, define, ideate, prototype and test an invention to help their friend while he’s on the mend.
Do you have resources for teaching kids design thinking? Share them in the Comments section below.
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
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