At a glance
4 workshops across 2 countries
11-14 age group
Distinction – M(Res) University of the Arts London
Overview
Children’s engagement with their physical environments is vital for their personal, emotional, and social development, but is sharply declining in urban and urbanizing places.
The aim of the project is to bridge this gap by providing children with a hands-on and creative learning experience through interaction with their physical environments.
Research Methodology
Preliminary research identified three core barriers: curriculum pressure limiting outdoor time at school, antiquated educational approaches, and parents’ busy lifestyles reducing support for outdoor play.
The next step was to directly engage with children to better understand their influences from and interactions with their environments. Workshops were carried out in urban schools in central London (UK) and in Bangalore (India) as well as a rural school in Bangalore to serve as a comparison.
The age group of 11-14 yrs was chosen since children in this group would have the ability to respond to ‘play habits’, as well as comprehend and engage in the research activities.
A mixed-method approach incorporated observatory studies, questionnaires, a hands-on viewfinder activity, and group reflection — designed to fit within the school timetable.
Images from workshops conducted in London (UK)
Images from workshops conducted in Bangalore (India)
Top Findings
There is a strong indication that the kind of environment a child inhabits influences his or her thinking and creativity.
Environment directly shapes how children think and create. Rural participants referenced nature and abstract shapes; urban participants drew built forms like doors and windows; London children used emoticons and icons — a likely indicator of time spent online.
Younger children created literal viewfinders (cameras, binoculars); older urban children explored shape and scale. Across all settings, nature was the most memorable experience — and most children saw new possibilities for learning outside school.
“I started to notice so many shapes all around me.”
Designing a Solution
The research pointed to three interconnected areas that shaped the solution:
- Engaging with the physical environment — developing spatial cognition, core social skills, and creative inspiration
- Creativity as intelligence — realised in anyone, in many forms
- Encouraging play for better learning — shifting a child’s perspective on difficult subjects while developing imagination and social skills
A toolkit that helps middle-aged children learn concepts of geometry by playing with the physical environment.
The kit consists of activities, inspiration cards, and prompts that aid hands-on, creative and cross-curricular learning. It can be used by parents, teachers, and children in versatile and playful ways and prompt ‘out of the box’ thinking.
To test the kit, workshops were conducted in Bangalore urban schools and a more detailed version of the kit was further developed.
“I learnt how to spot shapes around me, measure them, and make pictures from shapes.”
“We did a lot of fun activities and I learnt what I had forgotten in the last class.”
What this project taught me
This project shaped how I think about design:
- Research before solutions.
- Never base decisions on assumption.
- Test with real people in real contexts, and stay open to being surprised by what you find.
- Always consider the context your user is in — their environment shapes how they think, feel, and interact with what you design.
These instincts sit at the heart of every product I’ve worked on since.