B12 Project Report: Make the Robot Move (Me)

08-06-2010Department of Industrial Design (Eindhoven University of Technology)

Make the robot move (me) – DPJ16

A report describing the design process of an emotive toy which encourages only children to share with others

Share it.

Final Report • Make the robot move (me) • 08-06-2010

Zheliuyi Wang • Samantha Peeters • Jacquelyn van Kampen • Philémonne Jaasma • Matthijs van Leeuwen

Page | 2

This report was developed at the faculty of Industrial Designof the Eindhoven University of Technology, by the following fi rstyear stu-

dents coached by Gijs Ockeloen:

Philémonne JaasmaJacquelyn van Kampen

Samantha PeetersMatthijs van Leeuwen

Zheliuyi Wang

Final ReportMake the Robot Move (Me)

The development of emotive robots, with the intent to encourage an only child toshare.

Eindhoven University of Technology Department of Industrial Design Bachelor 1

Page | 3



Page | 4

AbstractThe project aims to design an intelligent toy that stimulates children of the ages three to four years old to share. In particular the project looks at the context of the Chinese society’s kinder-gartens.

This report presents background information and research data as well as design decisions. This report talks about the fi nal design concept in depth. A user test was set up to test the functioning of the conecpt. A discussion of the process and the result will conclude the re-port.


Page | 5

Special ThanksToon van Alen

Geert van den Boomen Gijs Ockeloen

Jun Hu Pdeng Meng



Page | 6

Contents1. Introduction ................................................................................... 82. Background .................................................................................. 10

2.1 Team Dynamics ......................................................................................................... 102.2 Prelimenary Research ............................................................................................... 112.3 Midterm exhibition ................................................................................................... 12

Pre Exhibition .................................................................................................................................................................................. 12Post Exhibition ................................................................................................................................................................................ 13

3. Problem Statement ..................................................................... 143.1 Design question ........................................................................................................ 143.2 Context ...................................................................................................................... 153.3 Media ......................................................................................................................... 16

4. Context Exploration .................................................................... 184.1 What is already being used ...................................................................................... 18

Games ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 18Toys ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 19

4.2 Context questionnaires ............................................................................................ 20Teacher Questionaire .................................................................................................................................................................... 20Parents Questionaire .................................................................................................................................................................... 21Usability requirements ................................................................................................................................................................. 22

5. Research ....................................................................................... 24China's One Child Policy .............................................................................................................................................................. 24What social skills do children develop naturally between the age of 3-4 and what social diffi culties do they experience between the age of 3-4? ...................................................................................................................................... 25What social skills do children develop naturally between the age of 4-5 and what social diffi culties do they experience between the age of 4-5? ...................................................................................................................................... 26

Development of (Chinese) children ............................................................................... 27When and how do children play? ............................................................................................................................................ 27Target group .................................................................................................................................................................................... 28


Page | 7

6. Concept Development ...................................................................................................................... 306.1 Idea Generation ..................................................................................................................................................................................306.2 Concept ...............................................................................................................................................................................................32

Design question ...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................32The design requirements .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................33

7. Materialization................................................................................................................................... 347.1 Form ....................................................................................................................................................................................................34

First Ideas and Sketches .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................34Prototyping ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................36Materials ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................37Production ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................40Final prototype .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................41

7.2 Technology .........................................................................................................................................................................................43Ideal Situation Storyboard .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................43Expert input ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................44Final Schematic .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................44Strategy ...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................46Process .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................46Integrating into prototype .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................48

7.3 Logo .....................................................................................................................................................................................................49

8. Final Design ........................................................................................................................................ 509. User Test ............................................................................................................................................. 529. Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................... 5410. References ........................................................................................................................................ 56

10.1 Articles ..............................................................................................................................................................................................5610.2 Websites ............................................................................................................................................................................................56



Page | 8

1. IntroductionThis report is developed within the bachelor program of the department of Industrial Design at the Eindhoven University of Technology.

The report describes the project ‘make the robot move (me)’. The project was completed by fi ve fi rst year students within a time span of 16 weeks. The goal of the project is to develop an emotive toy for children. The specifi ed design brief was to be created by the team of students. The project consisted of two phases each lasting eight weeks. The fi rst phase consisted of preliminary research and the creation of three individual robots. During the individu-al phase the team sought after a design question.

The fi rst two chapters discuss how the group went about the individual phase of the project as well as the context exploration. After the explanation of how the team got to the design question in the third chapter the rest of the report focuses on the second phase of the project. The next chapters consecutively handle research, design decisions, concept generation and the materialization of our fi nal concept. The last chapter dis-cusses our solutions during the process.


Page | 9



Page | 10

2. Background2.1 Team Dynamics

Development Through Semester

The project was laid out to allow for a group of fi rst year bachelor students to work part of the semester individually and part of the semester as a team. The fi rst quartile allowed for each group member to work on their robots and develop electronic and program-ming skills individually. In an eff ort to prepare for the second quartile, when the project would be completed as a team, the group members decided to continue to communi-cate during the individual quartile. This proved to be very eff ective. The team learned how to work independently while keeping in mind the overall goals of the project. In the early phase of the fi rst quartile the team members decided that it would be useful to have a group meeting on Friday afternoons to discuss future aspects of the project including developmental and design goals. The team conducted research that related to these goals and some preliminary design decisions were made including a design problem that guided the team members throughout the individual phase. As a result of the decision to remain cohesive the team was able to make a smooth transition into the group-work phase.

Division of Tasks

Each team member showed that they are able to work well independently while keeping communication within the group open. During the fi rst few weeks of the second quartile the team worked together to generate ideas and form a design concept. Once a con-cept was decided on the team divided tasks in order to remain effi cient. The tasks were divided then chosen based each member’s developmental goals. Because each member was working toward his or her personal development goals the motivation level was high. The team continued to communicate through this phase because they learned how important and helpful communication is within a design team.


Page | 11

Dealing with Confl ict

A few weeks into the second quartile a team dynamics meeting was conducted in order to ensure equality within the group. The team used a team evalu-ation form in order to rank each member on a scale from one being excellent to fi ve being unacceptable. After fi lling out the form the team discussed the results as a group. Reasoning was given when there were disagreements or confl icting scores. This exercise allowed for each member to express their prob-lems and concerns within the group and ultimately made the group stronger and more focused toward a common fi nal goal for the project. It was clear that the advice given during this meeting was taken seriously and each member felt more confi dent in the abilities of the group afterword.

2.2 Prelimenary Research

During the fi rst half of this project, every team member had their own journey of exploration. This journey consisted of many aspects. It was about explor-ing technology, for example programming and connecting servomotors. It was about exploring materials, such as foam, aluminum and fabric. It was about exploring ways to express and evoke emotions, for instance through movement, shape and colour. Overall, it was about exploring the fi eld that this project is in: emotive robots.

Since this fi eld was unfamiliar to the team, the fi rst step of action was to do research on what the fi eld already ex-isted of. The research was divided in the following subjects: History of Robotics, Emotion and Interaction, Philoso-phy, Emotional Connections and Behavioral Theories, and Social Cultural Elements for Designing Robots.The outcomes were shared within the team, so that a general impression of robots in today’s society could be formed. For specifi c research outcome please refer to the Interim Report of this project.

Predetermined in the project was that, during the individual stages, focus should be on using robotic movement to convey emotions. In order to see the eff ect movement can have on perception, the team joined an LMA workshop, by Roos van Berkel. In this workshop everyone used their body to express emotions. This gave insight on how movement of the human body can be analyzed. These analyses were used to cre-ate robotic movement with the aim to express emotion. To fi nd out more about the robots that were developed, please refer to the Interim Report and the



Page | 12

individual reports of this project.

Altogether the research, workshop and development of robots meant that each team mem-ber had basic knowledge that made them prepared for the next stage of the project. Every-one had specifi c knowledge, so that the team now consisted of fi ve experts with their own specialties, which could come in useful in further stages of the project.

Altogether the research, workshop and development of robots meant that each team mem-ber had basic knowledge that made them prepared for the next stage of the project. Every-one had specifi c knowledge, so that the team now consisted of fi ve experts with their own specialties, which could come in useful in further stages of the project.

2.3 Midterm exhibition

Pre Exhibition

The team put a great deal of eff ort into planning for the midterm exhibition. A lot of the eff ort went toward developing a strategy for gathering useful feedback. Part of the strategy was that the team would have a clear future goal in regards to a design direction and con-text. Each team member could collect feedback on their individual robots while keeping in mind that in the end the device should promote sharing in children. Each member of the group used sticky notes to write down the feedback they received. At the end the sticky notes were collected and a meeting was scheduled to evaluate the results.


Page | 13

Post Exhibition

The feedback was organized into six categories including: positive reinforcement, ideas, action points, design direction, scenarios and other. Through refl ecting on the feedback, research topics were developed and decisions were made about the direction of the project. For the most part the feedback reinforced the existing design question and provided ideas on how to expand on it and move further in the design process.



Page | 14

3. Problem Statement 3.1 Design question

The project description of Make the Robot Move (Me) states that the design goal is to make an ‘emotive toy’ for children. Further specifi cations however, were to be made up by the team.

Seeing opportunitiesDuring the individual phase of making robots, a weekly brainstorm was held to see op-portunities for the ‘emotive toy’. Subjects of brainstorms were among others: children’s activities, types of toys and the image of robots as perceived by others. These brain-storms were eye-openers as to where an emotive toy could step in and enrich children’s lives.

Discussing design direction Already during the preliminary research, the fi rst offi cial design decision was made; the emotive toy would not be a humanoid. This meant that considering form, it would not be literal and would rather be abstract. This decision was based on the consideration that a humanoid would be too obvious, limiting and biased. It might also take the place of a real human being, which in a situation with emotions and children was chosen to be avoided. Choosing design question The next step was to think about what challenges children face, and how a robot can contribute to tackling these issues. This however was not very inspiring. Therefore, in-stead of thinking about problems, it was decided to switch to a more positive mind-set by creating various endings to the sentence “Wouldn’t it be nice if…”This established a long list of scenarios where children were better off than they are in real life. From this list, several scenarios were preferred and discussion resulted in a


Page | 15

unanimous decision. The sentence below was agreed to be the winner:“Wouldn’t it be nice if children knew how to share attention and goods with siblings?”When discussing this situation, the diff erences in cultural background of the team became clear. Interesting stories about childhood were exchanged, of which especially the stories about how one-child policy in China leads to many problems in society, stuck to mind. By now, it was clear that this subject of sharing was fruitful, and suitable for an emotive toy. Now it was not hard anymore to phrase the design question, because the ‘wouldn’t it be nice if..’ state-ment was already chosen. It was a bit modifi ed, resulting in the following design question:

“How can an only child be encouraged to share?”

3.2 Context

The bigger prospective of the design question lies in China. The one–child policy there has a major impact on society. As a Chinese team member observed and experienced, children in Chinese cities grow up without siblings and are spoiled by parents and grandparents. The fi rst time they get in touch with other children intensively, is at kindergarten. This is also the fi rst time they have to share at-tention and goods. Therefore Chinese kindergartens are chosen as the design context for the emotive toy. This also means that the fi nal design is focused on children between the ages three and four.



Page | 16

3.3 Media

To illustrate the problem statement the news article below shows an example of problems only children get later during their life. The team aims to solve the problems stated earlier this chapter. Ideally the design might contribute to the bigger cause and make news articles like the one below a thing of the past.

The article below is an exerpt of an article from the China Daily website.

Suicide a selfi sh act for ‘Me Generation’By Qin Zhongwei (China Daily)Updated: 2010-04-01 07:53

According to conservative statistics, 63 university students nationwide were reported to have committed suicide in 2008. Research shows that the suicide rate for Chinese college students is much higher than for others in the same age group. I don’t want to discuss the reasons that made these students give up on living in this world. Life is full of obstacles. But I do believe that our post-80 generation, which is termed by some media as the “Me Generation”, should have second thoughts before doing anything rash. The suicide stories just tell the cold truth that the parents’ love and devotion was in vain. For the one-child generation a suicide means there is nobody to take care of them when they grow old. As Tomb-Sweeping Day is approaching, it is the time to mourn those who have passed, but as its also a time when I will recall those grieving parents who lost their children, I just want to send my heartfelt blessings to them, even though the wounds in their hearts will probably never be healed.

Treasure your life, as it is not only yours.


Page | 17



Page | 18

4.1 What is already being used

This section will discuss games and toys used in the Chinese kindergarden. The examples will give insights about the context of the team’s fi nal concept during this semester.

Games

Drop the handkerchief

This Chinese game, it is similar to the game duck-duck-goose in The Netherlands. A group of players sit in a circle, one child is the ‘picker’. He/she will choose one of the other children by throwing the handkerchief behind the target. The chosen one will chase the ‘picker’. The picker must try to fi nd the spot of the chosen one to sit before being catched. If the chosen one can’t catch the ‘picker’ he will become the next ‘picker’. If he catches the ‘picker’, the ‘picker’ has to be picker again for the next turn.

The Eagle Catches the Chickens

The game “the eagle catches the chickens” is also called “the weasel eats the chickens”, in which one acts as the eagle, one the hen and the rest the chickens. The game goes like this: the “hen” and the “chickens” stand in a line with the “hen” in the very front spreading both arms to protect the “chickens” and each one clasping the clothes tail of the one right in front of it. The “eagle” should seek every opportunity to catch the “chicken”. If one “chicken” is caught, “it” should exchange the role with the “eagle”. If the “eagle” cannot catch any “chicken”, the game would proceed until its fi nal success.

Toys

4. Context Exploration


Page | 19

The tangram

The tangram is a dissection puzzle consisting of seven fl at shapes, called tans, which are put together to form shapes. And at most of time, the diff erent pieces are in diff erent colors. The objective of the puzzle is to form a specifi c shape (given only in outline or silhouette) using all seven pieces, which may not overlap.

Toy blocks

The blocks are also called building bricks, or simply blocks. They are made of wooden, plastic or foam pieces of various shapes, like square, cylinder, arch, triangle, etc. And most blocks are in colors which children may like better. Sometimes toy blocks depict let-ters of the alphabet.

Plasticine

Plasticine is a kind of modelling clay which is used extensively for children’s play. It is a putty-like modeling material made from cal-cium salts, petroleum jelly and aliphatic acids. Plasticine is a kind of toy but also as a modeling medium for more formal or perma-nent structures.



Page | 20

4.2 Context questionnaires

The questionaires aim at Chinese only-children. Two questionaires were used. The fi rst questionaire asks teachers at a chinese kindergarden about the kindergarten itself and the kids staying there. The fi rst questionnaire was answered by seven Chinese teachers.The second questoinare asks Chinese parents about their only children trying to fi nd out more about the child’s experience with sharing. It was answered by 66 Chinese parents. The full questionaires and all results can be found in appendix I.

Teacher Questionaire

Basic information Kindergarten

There are about 10-30 children in a class, and most children would be 3-5 years-old. Not all but most of these children in kindergarten are one-children. They have no siblings in their family. So, some children love to go to the kindergarten to be with other kids.Children have some activities in kindergarten, like morning reading, eating together, morning exercises, having classes, play games, having nap, singing and dancing. Most teachers consider that playing games and do sports could let the children interact with other.

Classes & playing

Children have diff erent classes in the Chinese kindergarten. Drawing, reading and writ-ing, English classes are the required courses in most kindergarten, besides, singing and dancing, mathematic are common. Also, having classes and discuss together are kinds of interaction. As the only child in family, parents hope their child could be outstanding. So


Page | 21

they may have more classes like playing a kind of musical instrument or ballet classes at this age.42.9% kindergartens arrange children play for 1-2 hours, and 28.6% kindergartens under one hour, the same percent kindergarten arrange 3-4 hours. Children have free time to play and were arrange some group games. Teachers often play together with children.

Toys

There are some electronic toys in the kindergarten for children to use together, but are not a lot. Sometimes children will share toys with other children, and most teacher will get involved with helping them to share. Kids sometimes help each other during the outside games. 85.7% teachers consider it is a good idea that using intelligent toy to teach children to share, and like it so much. Also 85.7% teachers consider that one-child need to learn sharing with others during the group playing.85.7% teachers say children love colorful toys more than which have no color. And they like red most at the per-cent of 71.4%. Only 14.3% teacher say children have no preference between colors.

Parents Questionaire

General description about Children in China

Most of children in China are only-child. And most children are sent to kindergarten where they can play with other children when their parents are out to work. Parents try their best to provide good living conditions for their children. Children love toys and they have many diff erent kinds of toys. They like to play games and love to play with friends. Most children like painting and prefer colorful things.

User characters

Through the Q24 (use 3 words to describe your children), I conclude some characters of children. Clever is the fi rst word used to describe children by parents. They are young and clever. Most children are obedient to their parents, but sometimes they are naughty. They are lovely and pretty in their

Do you like the idea about use the intelligent toy teach children to share during play?



Page | 22

parents’ eyes. They are honest and brave. Some children are shy and quite, like to be inde-pendent at such a young age. They are curious about new things.

They have many activities to do. They like watching TV including cartoons and play computer games. They love toys, most girls like dolls and boys like electronic toys and computer games. And boys are more like to do sports game than girls. Besides, some likes listen to stories, drawing and dancing.

Some children like to go to the kindergarten. And some parent says children like to play with them. We can see that children like to be with other children and they don’t want to be alone.

Usability requirements

Children like toys and need toys. About 40% children have 10-30 toys, and 40.9% children ask for a new toy once per month. Children like red and blue most from the data. Sometimes they use the everyday object as toys and pretend these object have diff erent functions.

Most parents will stimulate child to share with other at a percent of 89.4%. Parents like their children having many friends, and sharing is a good way to make friends. Most children will share their toys during the play but not always.

The percent of 84.8% children like painting. So they may sensitive to colors and like toys which could change colors.

Do you think your child likes colorful toys better than ones without color?


Page | 23



Page | 24

5. ResearchBefore going on with the project after the individual parts, research had to be done. The research was necessary to know the user. By researching the user it is possible to design a product which is perfectly suitable for this user. For the research diff erent questions had to be answered;- What is China’s One Child Policy?- What social skills do children develop naturally between the age of 3-4?- What social diffi culties do they experience between the age of 3-4?- What social skills do children develop naturally between the age of 4-5? - What social diffi culties do they experience between the age of 4-5?- When and how do children play?- Where do we step in?- Who is the target?

The conclusions of the research can be read in this chapter.

China's One Child PolicyConsequences and benefi ts for children growing up through the one child policy.

The one child policy, introduced in nineteen seventy-nine, was intended to be a short-term solution to the problems with overpopulation in China. It was developed as a lifestyle incen-tive so parents would choose for smaller family sizes in the future. The law enforced that families living in urban areas were only allowed to have one child.1 An exception to this rule applies to Chinese families living in rural areas. They are allowed to have a second child fi ve years after the fi rst is born if the fi rst born is a girl.1

The ideal family structure in China has become a 4:2:1 ratio. That is four grandparents, two

1 Therese Hesketh, Ph.D., Li Lu, M.D., and Zhu Wei Xing, M.P.H.(2005) The Eff ect of China’s One-Child Fam-ily Policy after 25 Years


Page | 25

parents and one child.2 Many families feel a great deal of importance toward their one child.3 Because he/she is the only allowed child for the family they are often treated much diff erently than those only children in Western cultures. According to Jiao, Ji and Jing from the Chinese academy of Sciences, “The confl ict between political and social norms may have lead parents to pay extraordinary attention to their only children and provide them with an enriched environment that greatly facilitates their cognitive development” (1996, p.394). It has been found that these children acquire higher skills in language, imitation and independent thinking. They also acquire skills in interacting with adults because the relationship between parent/grandparent and child is so greatly cherished.2 That being said, it has also been found that these children can have diffi culty getting along with or sharing with other children their age3.

Questions have arisen as to whether or not these children develop psychologically diff erently than those growing up with siblings. Research has been conducted by the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences to address these questions. A conclusion that was drawn from the data was that an oldest child growing up with younger siblings developed intellectual skills because they take on responsibilities of caring for their younger siblings. This quality of caring and nurturing is often missing in the only child upbringing.

What social skills do children develop naturally between the age of 3-4 and what social difficulties do they experience be-tween the age of 3-4? At pre-school, children start to develop physical skills to run, climb, and openly explore their surroundings.According to the stages that Erikson describes, children in aged three to four are sure of themselves and proud. They protect their possessions and feel like they are independent. This in practice means that they start to have a ‘will’ and tantrums. They get stubborn and want to do things themselves. They

2 Shulan Jiao, Guiping Ji, and Qicheng Jing (1996) Cognitive Development of Chinese Urban OnlyChildren and Children with Siblings3 Breiner, S.J. (2004). Early Child Development in China. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, Vol. 11, 2. Retrieved 19 April, 2010 from http://www.springerlink.com/content/r23w3u47h8x63m52/fulltext.pdf



Page | 26

discover that they can refuse things by saying ‘no’, and they exploit this knowledge. On the other hand however they start developing feelings of shame. Therefore parents should encourage their child to make him feel more confi dent. Children at this age, make positive progression when they are applauded. Encouragement is an eff ective way to infl uence the child at this age, a positive response contributes to a positive experience for the child.4

Preschoolers have the ability to empathise with their classmates. However, sad emotions are often ignored while happiness and anger are emotions that children do respond to. Albert Bandura showed that 3- to 5-year-old children learn new behaviour and movements through imitation.5

The table below shows the development of children as described by Erikson and Freud.6

What social skills do children develop naturally between the age of 4-5 and what social difficulties do they experience between the age of 4-5?

4 Erikons, E., (1950-1997) erikson’s psychosocial development theory retrieved May 7th 2010 from http://www.businessballs.com/erik_erikson_psychosocial_theory.htm#erikson’s_basic_virtues5 Brian Hopkins, Ronald G. Bar, George F. Michel, Philippe Rochat (2005) The Cambridge Encyclopedia Of Child Development, Play p.3616 Erik Erikons, (1950-1997) erikson’s psychosocial development theory retrieved May 7th 2010 fromhttp://www.businessballs.com/erik_erikson_psychosocial_theory.htm#erikson’s_basic_virtues


Page | 27

According to Erikson, children between the age of four and fi ve are in what he calls the “play age”. During this phase children learn new skills through play-ing, such as: using fantasy and imagination, cooperating with others, and to lead as well as to follow. Children in this age category hang on the fringes of groups and depend unduly on adults. This is the age where they start taking initiative, especially stimulated by, for example, an adventurous game. Allow this, stimulates self confi dence of the child. When this is prevented by parents (risky, messy), they de-motivate the child to be assertive, and contribute to the child feeling unapproved. They have a sense of guilt now, and when a grown up rejects an initiative of a child, the child will mistrust his own abilities.7

Teachers use the checklist shown on the left to assess children’s social well-being8:

Development of (Chinese) childrenWhen and how do children play?

For children there are diff erent types of play. The two most important ones are pretend play and sociodramatic play.

So one of the most important ones is sociodramatic play. Sociodramatic play means that children all play certain roles and interact with each other. This pretends play is mostly there at the age of 3. For children it is quite complex to do sociodramatic play, because they need to understand each other’s roles, think about what they say and make up a story. Sociodramatic play contributes to language development, cognitive development, creativity and role tak-ing. Another one that is very important is pretend play. Pretend play means that the child is pretending to do something. Pretend play is an early indicator of mind abilities. Pretend play already starts at the age of 15 months. The way they do this is by “pretending to sleep” etc. The very early pretend play is mostly done with parents or older siblings. At the age of 3-4 they start to do pretend play with children of their own age.

Other types of play children do are; object play, psychical activity play, rough-and-tumble play and exercise play. The last three have a lot in common. They all mean playful activity with a lot of physical contact. For example play fi ghting and play chasing. This exercise play starts at toddlers and peaks at early

7 Erikson, Erik H. Childhood and Society. New York: Norton, 19508 McClellan, Diane E. - Katz, Lilian G. (2001) Assessing Young Children’s Social Competence.



Page | 28

primary school ages. Young children need the exercise because they are more restless than older children. Exercise play also gives the children a break from doing all the cognitive tasks. They won’t get overloaded.

One of the benefi ts of playing is of course that the children are active and will also encounter new situations with which they have to deal. The biggest benefi t of it is that children learn from playing. Playing is enjoyable for them, so they are more likely to cooperate and learn from it. It also learns them to solve problems in a creative way.9

Target group

The position of a child among his or her siblings determines what society expects from them10.Because women work in China children are left at the nursery or kindergarten for 8 to 10 hours a day 10 to 20% of the children stay for 6 full days every week11. It is estimated that in Chinese cities, 90% of the kindergartners are only children.

Below the age of three children are served by nurseries. Unlike primary school neither a nurs-ery nor kindergarten is obligatory. 12

Before primary school children get the opportunity to follow a one to three year pre-school education from three to six year old. Most kindergartens are divided in three classes based on the child’s age.

9 Brian Hopkins, Ronald G. Bar, George F. Michel, Philippe Rochat (2005) The Cambridge Encyclopedia Of Child Development, Play p.36110 Falbo, T., & Poston, D. L. (1993). The academic, personality, and physical outcomes of only children in China. Child Development, 64, 33-34.11 Breiner, S.J. (). Early Child Development in China. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, Vol. 11, 2. Retrieved 19 April, 2010 from http://www.springerlink.com/content/r23w3u47h8x63m52/fulltext.pdf12 Spodek, B. (1989). Chinese Kindergarten Education and its Reform. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 4, 31-50.


Page | 29

In 1998 one year of preschool reached a participation rate of 70%. In kindergarten children are stimulated to develop themselves in physical, moral, intel-lectual and aesthetical ways.13 Children are allowed to play but also have a certain amount of lessons every day depending on their age. During preschool children start to learn about subjects like mathematics and the Chinese language. Children will start going to primary school when children turn six.14 Their more serious and formal education will continue there.

Kindergartens started playing a huge role to help with the problems one encounters when raising an only child. Children learn to share with each other in kindergarten. Often older children are also taught to help younger children.14

Beside kindergarden ‘parent schools’ are a new phenomenon in China. These schools teach parents how to raise an only child and how to deal with the problems they will encounter when doing so.14

13 http://www.edu.cn/introduction_1395/20060323/t20060323_3897.shtml, retrieved on 22-04-201014 Spodek, B. (1989). Chinese Kindergarten Education and its Reform. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 4, 31-50.



Page | 30

6. Concept DevelopmentThis chapter describes the process of idea generation during which several idea generation techniques were used. This chapter also covers on which basis decisions which were made in this stage of the project. The fi nal goal is to come up with a concept that answers our design question: ‘how can we encourage only children to share’ taking the requirements of our design brief in account by creating an emotive toy. All this had to be done under quite some time pressure since the team only had 8 weeks to come up with and work out a concept.

6.1 Idea Generation

From our research chapter we conclude that children of the ages 3-4 often pretend play (page 26 of this report). This is an important fact to keep in mind during the stages of idea generation. During the process of idea generation a variety of brainstorming techniques were applied. The fi rst brainstorms focused on personal knowledge and experiences concerning pretend play.

After combining the group’s experiences and knowledge the next step was to look for solu-tions to the design questions while meeting the requirements of the design brief. The fi rst brainstorm was an open one; all the requirements were written in the centre with room for solutions around it. As expected this did not generate useful results because there weren’t enough ways triggering ones imagination the problem was too broad to solve at once.

During this stage several techniques were applied that were inspired by the book Thinker-toys my Michael Michalko.1 After applying the ‘one + one = one’ relaxation exercise the group focused on a more forced way of brainstorming using techniques from the book Thinkertoys. One of the methods asked us to write down a table with possible characteristics of the con-cept. After randomly selecting characteristics from the table an idea was created using these

1 Michalko, Michael: Thinkertoys. a handbook of creative thinking. Berkeley, Ten Speed , Press, 2006


Page | 31

characteristics. This technique kept ideas fl owing even though not all ideas were relevant to our problem.

After the more formal brainstorms a less formal technique was applied to relax the minds of the group members. Every group member thought of his or her favorite animal. After writing this down the whole group thought of ways those animals would share. The next step was to turn this way of sharing into an actual product for children.

During the brainstorms two ways of sharing were identifi ed. The fi rst way stimulates children to play in groups allowing them to share the playground and the experience with each other. The second way is a more direct way of sharing this way one child literally gives something to another child, loosing something belonging to itself. The second way of sharing is the the way we aim to use with our concept because the fi rst way is limitting to just ‘playing together’ which does not autmoaticly mean that the ionvolved children will start sharing.

The idea that came the closest to the fi rst way of sharing was generated from the most informal brainstorm during the session. The idea was thought of during the ‘favorite animal’ brainstorm. The idea focuses on physical sharing of bamboo by two panda’s. The group felt that in order to teach children about sharing one child must loose something belonging to themselves in order to make the other child ‘better’.The idea is based on two sticks consisting of a number of sections. The pieces must be connected to one of the two sticks; in other words there will always be two sticks, but the lengths can vary. In order for the sticks to func-tion the pieces must be divided equally. The unlocked functionality could vary from the creation of sound to the interacting of colors.

After the fi rst brainstorm session the group decided to take a diff erent approach during the sessions that fol-lowed. The team felt that it was too easy to loose focus during a brainstorm.

The focus of the second brainstorm session was to come up with ways of physical sharing between children with our device. All new solutions generated during the second brainstorm were similar to the idea from the fi rst brainstorm session. Eventually the team decided that this idea did not keep comming back for no reason. Each team member developed this idea into a concept seperately. This resulted in fi ve diff erent approachese of which some used music and others were based on color.



Page | 32

6.2 Concept

Instead of giving away a physical part of your object in the fi nal concept you give away the color of your stick. This principle makes use of the strong preference children have for cer-tain colors (chapter 4: context). Giving away color is done by creating sticks with two halves both containing lamps with the ability to change color. One side sends color to another stick , the other side can receive color from another stick. Like this children can create their own toy. Children who don’t give away their color to other kids will notice their own color starts to fade. The children who don’t give end up with a less fun toy to play with. When you send color to another stick your sending side of the stick loses some of its color. However this can be recharged at a base unit at any time. Every time you share you are rewarded with a star lighting up on your stick.

This concept was chosen because it answered the design question in the best possible way as well as meeting the design brief’s requirements. The concept rewards sharing but disad-vantages children who do not share. It allows children to immerse in pretend play using their own fantasy to play with their personally colored device.

Design question

The toy has to encourage children to share. The team concluded that the best way to make children experience sharing is by making one of them loose something for the gain of the other child. The concept fi ts this requirement perfectly the child who sends color to the re-ceiving child loses some of its sending color. In return it gets to keep its own receiving color’s brightness and gains a star on the handle of the device.

The design requirements


Page | 33

According to the design brief the fi nal design should be an emotive (and robotic) toy. The concept that was chosen is emotive in the sense that the toy itself displays certain emotion but also evokes emotion with the user.

If the color of the toy is not shared the users own color fades. The toy becomes less bright therefore it conveys sadness and disappoint-ment.2 When the toy lights up after the colors are shared it will convey a change of moods to the user. The user on the other hand experiences a similar kind of emotional shifting. If the user shares the toy rewards the kid by shining bright, the toy will be more appealing to the child and give the kid a feeling of accomplishment since the kid itself caused the toy to stay bright.

The toy is robotic because it senses if someone is trying to share with it. It also keeps track of how long ago it was shared for the last time responding according to that time.

The concept will be used as a toy by 3-4 year old children in kindergarten. From scientifi c research (chapter 5) can be concluded that in this age category children pretend play a lot with each other. The toy should be easily used within this type of play. The scenarios below show some ways the toy can be used. These quick possibilities show that this toy is highly suitable for the age category.

2 Ger Bruens: Form/Color Anatomy. The Hague, Lemma Publishers, 2007



Page | 34

7. Materialization

7.1 Form

After the the concept generation phase the concept was informally called Panda Sticks because the Panda had been a source of inspiration for the concept. In order to think of a shape, there should be thought of the diff erent purposes it should have.

The main thing it should do is invite you to squeeze it. Also the shape shouldn’t be ob-scene. To achieve this there are processes to go through; such as sketching, modeling, material research and user testing.

First Ideas and Sketches

The concept is about sharing colors with others. The color is shared by attaching and squeezing two sticks. So the shape itself should make clear where to squeeze and where to attach them to each other with the correct ends. Below some of the fi rst sketches can be seen:

The technique used is taking two existing objects, for example a cup and a bottle, attach them, and abstract them. In the end these three came out of it:

This concept was inspired by a cup and a bottle. The con of this concept is that it is not very obvious where to squeeze. Because both sides look as if they are squeezable. For the chil-dren it also might not be very obvious how to attach the two things together. This concept was inspired by a lightbulb and a fi tting. The positive thing about this one, is


Page | 35

that is very clear which side is for the squeezing and which one is for the sending. It is also clear where they need to be attached to each other. The shape still needs to get more refi ned.

Concept 3 was inspired by a plug and a socket. The positive thing about this design is that it is very clear how to attach the two parts. There is only one way it can be done. The con of this product is that the shape can be associated with a lot of things. For example a rabbit or jellyfi sh. Also it is not very clear which part is supposed to be squeezed.

Concluding from the three designs, Concept 2 has the most potential. The fi nal version for the shape has become this;



Page | 36

Prototyping

In the prototyping phase prototypes were made to test whether the shape works or not. The fi rst prototypes were made out of clay.

The reason for making the models out of clay was that it is very easy material. You can mold it in any shape you want very easily. And by making it out of clay everyone could touch and feel the shapes to see if they would work. Also it was very important that the shape felt nice in your hands.

After this prototypes were developed for user testing. The purpose of these prototypes was to show what the real prototype should do. In order to convey this the prototypes were build in the following way. First 3 plexiglass tubes. Around all of them there are fi ve colored rings placed. The three colors for this are Red, Green, Blue (RGB). In the middle is a silicon piece for the grip and at the ends there are silicon rings to make sure the colored rings won’t just fall of. The tube itself is made out of plexiglass since that is the material for the fi nal prototype.


Page | 37

Materials

For the fi nal prototype there has been done research into materials. The material itself had some diffi cult requirements;

Sending side:- Soft, fl exible material- Transparent- Squeezable- Electronics should be protected- LED’s should be visible but not be destroyed by the squeezing

Receiving side:- Not squeezable- ‘hard’ material (not fl exible)- Transparent- LED’s should be visible

After having done research and talking to experts there were eventually 6 options to choose from;

Option 1:

Make the whole thing out of silicon. In order to do this there should be made a3D model in SolidWorks. Make a mold out of it and poor the silicon in it. Inside of the silicon we will place a Plexiglas tube in order to have room for the electronics. The price for silicon is €50 euro’s per liter.

Pros:



Page | 38

It looks really nice because it is one “whole”. It is possible to make any shape. Cons:It costs a lot of time to make this. First the 3D model needs be done, after this the mold mak-ing. Sandpapering is needed to make the mold smoother and lacquer it. The silicon itself also takes quite some time to harden. Another factor that needs to be taken into account is air bubbles. There is no vacuum room available so there will be air bubbles in the silicon. Fur-thermore the model will be weak and wobbly which is not wanted. Three is also going to be very expensive.

Option 2:

Make only the squeezing part out of silicon. In order to do this there should be made a3D model in SolidWorks. Make a mold out of it and poor the silicon in it. Inside of the silicon we will place a Plexiglas tube in order to have room for the electronics. The price for silicon is €50 euro’s per liter. For the receiving part a plexiglass tube is used.

Pros:The squeezing part will actually be squeezable. It can also have any shape. What is also nice is that it will be obvious that you have to squeeze the silicon and not the Plexiglas part.

Cons:The receiving part can only be tube shaped because it is extremely diffi cult to mold the Plex-iglas into a shape. Furthermore the cons are almost the same as with the fi rst option. Hard to make everything necessary for the silicon mold and costs a lot of time. It is also expensive. Another thing is that it is quite diffi cult to attach the silicon to the Plexiglas.

Option 3:


Page | 39

Use a Plexiglas tube as the basic design. For the squeezing part make a silicon ring. But the ring itself has to be very wide since it is not doable to make a lot of small rings. So the receiving side would be the Plexiglas tube and the sending side would also be a Plexiglas tube with a silicon layer around.

Pros:The rings are easier to make in SolidWorks. Also with this loose ring it is easier to deal with the electronics. With this wide ring on the Plexiglas tube it will also look like it’s a whole if done properly.

Cons:Can’t make every shape. It is possible to model the ring a bit but for the rest there isn’t much left to model. Again also with the silicon it costs a lot of time to do it. And it is quite expensive. It is not sure if the silicon would press too much on the pressure sensor just by itself.

Option 4:

Make the whole thing out of a Plexiglas tube. Sandblast it and place the electronics inside of it. The shape will therefore be a tube, based on the very fi rst idea of the panda sticks.

Pros:It is easy to make, there aren’t many things that may go wrong. Also the idea will be clear. The LEDs will be visible. It is also cheap to make

Cons:Can’t make any shapes. This is extremely hard to do with Plexiglas. Especially when you want organic shapes. Also the squeezing is not incorporated.

Option 5:

Take the Plexiglas tube as a base. The receiving end will be sandblasted. At the sender side no sandblasting but place bubble wrap and plastic wrap around it. This way the light can still come through. You can sort of shape it and also squeeze.



Page | 40

Pros:It is easy and cheap to make. It is possible to incorporate the squeezing since it is very easy to place the sensor under the bubble wrap. The idea will also be clear.

Cons:It is a low profi le prototype. The way the bubble wrap and plastic wrap is going look is un-known. Also not every shape is possible.

Option 6:

Create the model out of wood. The LEDS will be placed on the outside of the wood. After this has been done dip it in candle wax. This way it will appear to be soft squeezable material. Although it isn’t.

Pros:The prototype will probably turn out nice looking. Also the light will be spread evenly.

Cons:No experience in working with candle wax and how to make prototypes out of wood. Anoth-er thing is that the LED lights can’t be turned on to long because it will cause the wax to melt. Maybe the prototype will get a bit too heavy also.

ConclusionIn the end there was decided to go for option 4. This choice mainly had to do with the fact that the other options were too diffi cult regarding the time limit. Others just don’t work. Option 4 makes it very clear what it does and what the idea behind it is, although the design itself is simple.

Production

The production of the prototype included a lot of talking to experts at Vertigo. After having


Page | 41

talked to the experts a few options came into view.

Option 1:Take a plexiglass tube and sandblast it. Make a small hole in it for a button, place all the electronics inside of it and close the end with caps.

Option 2:Take 3 plexiglass tubes. One big one and two smaller ones that will be glued inside of the big one partially. Now screws can be at-tached and in this way the prototype can be opened very easily.

Option 3:Take the plexiglass tube and make a gap in the middle. Around this gap place a hard plastic ring. If the ring is over it, it is all closed. By taking of the plastic ring you can reach inside.

Conclusion:The best option to go with is option 3. The problems of option 1 are that is it impossible to reach inside. If the batteries are dead your product won’t work anymore and it is impossible to replace them without destroying the prototype. Option 2 was a good option but not suitable for this design. This is only possible for tubes with a small diameter and this design requires a bigger diameter because of the electronics involved in it. Option 3 is an easy solution and suitable for the design.

Final prototype

For the fi nal prototype there was decided to go with option 3, which was; “Take the plexiglass tube and make a gap in the middle. Around this gap place a hard plastic ring. If the ring is over it, it is all closed. By taking of the plastic ring you can reach inside.”

While in the process it seemed most convenient to use a silicon ring around the gaps. The gaps itself will be covered by card-board to give it strength and around this silicon is wrapped. There will be 2 gaps; one for reaching the batteries and one for



Page | 42

placing the button. The feel and texture of the silicon will invite people to squeeze it. In the silicon itself there will be holes for the indication LEDs. The ends of the silicon tube will be sealed with foam caps. Also the plexiglass will be sandblasted.

The steps that had to be taken in order to make this prototype were; sawing the plexiglass, sandblasting the plexiglass, create the silicon rings and create the foam caps. Put all of this together and you get the fi nal prototype (shown on the right).

However due to technological restrictions the fi nal concept needed to be adjusted to allow for extra space in the centre of the tube. This resulted in the prototype shown in the bottom left corner.


Page | 43

7.2 Technology

Ideal Situation Storyboard



Page | 44

Expert input

The step from idea to realization was a big one. Therefore experts were approached at the very beginning. Jun Hu Pdeng Meng is a coach at the TU/e who specializes in programming Arduino. The concept was explained to him through showing him the scenario (see page 43). He clarifi ed some issues and also mentioned Arduino’s restrictions. Because the conversation was a real dialogue between the executing team members and the expert, there was input from both sides, which made the conversation very useful. In this way he allowed the team members to envision the practicalities of the concept. He put emphasis on the importance of prioritizing the actions that the prototype should perform in order to make it realistic in the timeframe of the project. Talking to him was the fi rst step in moving from storyboard to programming code.

In order to get a view from a diff erent perspective Geert van den Boomen was approached. The scenario was used again in order to explain the concept. The restrictions of Arduino, as explained by Jun Hu, were also mentioned. Being an Electrical Engineer, Geert was able to see solutions in the fi eld of electronics. Jun Hu looked at the concept based on the programming whereas Geert was able to bypass the limitations because he looked at the concept based on his expertise as an Electrical Engineer. Talking to both experts allowed for the most complete view on the concept.

Final Schematic

The next page shows the complete schematic that was used in order to build the device.


Page | 45



Page | 46

Strategy

First multiple RGB LED’s were connected in series to resemble the receiving action. A program was written, using Arduino software, to adjust the intensity of the RGB LEDs. Digital pins on two separate Arduinos that formed a communication controlled them. In the program these pins each received a value, either high or low. Then a switch was installed in order to control the communication. The program now depended on the switch being active or inac-tive. Once the switch was working with the RGB LEDs, LumiLEDs were connected in series to resemble the sending action. Depending on the button and connection, these were pro-grammed to go off . The program also stated that the RGB LEDs would fade when the device was not connected for a certain amount of time. The connection was made using an audio plug. Finally a reed sensor was connected to the reset pin of the Arduino to allow for the de-vice to be demonstrated multiple times during the exhibition. In the following paragraph, this is expanded on.

Process

A breadboard was used to connect three RGB LEDs in series. Each pin of the LED needed a connection to its corresponding transistor in order to defi ne colour. For example the pin communicating blue from each LED was connected to the “blue” transistor and then to the Arduino in order to control the separate colours of red, green and blue. In the program, the values for each colour were determined so that any RGB LED could increase intensity of any colour.

Digital pins were used to set up a communication between two Arduinos. Because a pin can only be an output or an input, each Arduino uses four pins for communicating: two for send-ing and two for receiving. A binary system proves that two pins allow for four combinations. This enabled the Arduinos to communicate three colours. The combination of high and low signals formed a code that defi ned a colour through programming, see table below.


Page | 47

Pin A Pin B Colour0 0 None0 1 Blue1 0 Red1 1 Green

With the intention of controlling the communication a switch was connected to the Arduino. This meant that commu-nication could be turned on or off . In the program, a ‘while’ loop was created which included the actions that should be performed while the button was active. The program stated that the signals that form the colour code, are only sent when two Arduinos are connected and the button is active. An audio plug enables the Arduinos to communicate. It was chosen because it seemed to be a secure way of connecting, and because it allows for three connections points: pin A, pin B and Ground. Each device has a male audio plug on the sender side, and a female audio plug on the receiver side. This means that the two sender pins are connected to the male plug, and the two receiver pins to the female plug.The audio plug is not ideal in shape because it does not complement the overall form of the device. However, alterna-tives such as developing a self-made connector did not guarantee a stable connection and were therefore undesirable.

To show that the device gives away colour, the LEDs in the sender side needed to go out sequentially. Therefore, a timer was set up in the program. This synchronized the intensity of the RGB LEDs with the amount of LEDs that were on. Since there was no possibility of using external components to control separate LEDs to go on and off , each LED needed its own pin on the Arduino. Originally, all the pins had a purpose, which meant that there were no extra pins reserved for unexpected components. In this scenario, however, it was overlooked that four pins were needed for communica-tion instead of two. This became apparent when the two main functions, sending and receiving, came together in one Arduino. To overcome this problem, a solution through electronics was used. A circuit was built to make a relationship between the active and the inactive LED based on their power and ground orientation. The result is a toggle between two LEDs, giving one light while the other has no light, and vice versa. Finally a switch was added to reset the cycle. This was necessary because the reset button on the Arduino would not be reachable once the device was put together.



Page | 48

For the fi nal code see appendix II.

Integrating into prototype

Due to the fact that children (aged 3-4) are holding the device in their hands, it had to be as small as technologically feasible. Since each device needed to contain a mini Arduino and a nine-volt battery, the size that was agreed upon was a cylinder with a diameter of 4 cm and a length of 30cm. It was sandblasted to diff use the light from the RGB LEDs and LumiLEDs. To further the diff usion the LEDs were wrapped in bubble wrap. There were some problems with making secure connections into the mini Arduino so therefore the form was adjusted as to not restrict the wires.


Page | 49

7.3 Logo

The device is designed in the context of a chinese kindergarden. It was important that the logo conveyed something to chinese people. In order to achieve this goal the Chinese character displayed on the right was used as a base for the logo. The character is called Zhòng (pronounched: tsjong). Zhòng means a group of people comming together in chinese, which is exactly what te goal of the design is.

Eventually the team decided to call the device Zhòng Zhòng because Zhòng did not sound playful enough to be a toy. While Zhòng Zhòng means the exact same as Zhòng it sounds a lot more playful, making it more applicable as a name for our design.

In order to make the logo fi t the design the goal was to make it more abstract so it fi ts the design’s shape. Eventually the a woven version of the character was applied. Weaving the character makes the three parts look strongly connected, this is similar to the design which asks children to connect the devices in order to share.

The base for the proto-types was designed in the

shape of the logo



Page | 50

8. Final Design


Page | 51



Page | 52

9. User TestThe user test of our concept was planned on thursday afternoon on the 3rd of june at prima-ry school DE BOOG in Eindhoven. Unfortunately due to unexpected withdrawal of the school the same day. There was no pos-sibility left to test the design with the available prototypes.

The usertest would have taken place according to the following plan:

• Give the questionnaire to teachers. Then we could compare the result here with the result from Chinese kindergarten.

• Use our prototype (colorful rings) do some simple test to children.• Three children in a group (3-5 couples)• Give them our beads prototype. Say nothing fi rst, just observing them for a few minutes:

how they react to the prototype; Are they going to play with the prototype in their way. (like start change the diff erent color rings with each other )

• Tell the kids about our game rules—there will be three sticks full of bead in one point, each stick have one color. Each child holds one stick, when giving one of their rings to the other child, then they will get the other color ring. After sharing, they got mixed color rings.

We will observe:i. How they react to sharing toys with each other. ii. Whether they like to get the mixed color.iii. Are they look happily during this game.

Questions and steps• Give children the prototype• What do you think this is?• Do you think it can be a toy?• Do you like the color of yours? Do you like the color of others?• Do you want to have more/other colors in your own tube?


Page | 53

• Guide the children to share the color rings• Try to get the other color from other children.• Do you like the mixed color of your tube?• Do you feel happy after you exchange the rings in diff erent color with your friends?• If the rings become some shining light, do you like it?Observe the children and video the course • Observe how the children interact with each other• Do they enjoy the course of sharing colors?



Page | 54

9. ConclusionThe user reserach in China confi rms that colors have a large impact on young children. The questionnaires showed a strong preference for a particular color at those ages. The design grants children the ability to create their own color by sharing with others. This will trigger children to seek after their own prefered color while sharing with others.

Since children stard pretend playing at the age of three the abstract shape can become anything when combined with a childs’ mind. If the design was to be used in a Chinese kin-dergarden only children would be encouraged to exchange color while sharing in the proc-ess. This way the design could play a huge role in the social development of an only child in China.

The main goal of the user test was to confi rm the acutal functioning of the design. The ab-sence of the user test does not enable us to conclude in such an ideal way.


Page | 55



Page | 56

10. References

10.1 Articles

1. Breiner, S.J. (2004). Early Child Development in China. Child Psychiatry and Human Devel-opment, Vol. 11, 2. Retrieved 19 April, 2010 from http://www.springerlink.com/content/r23w3u47h8x63m52/fulltext.pdf

2. Bruens. G. (2007) Form/Color Anatomy. The Hague, Lemma Publishers3. Erikons, E., (1950-1997) erikson’s psychosocial development theory retrieved May 7th 2010

from http://www.businessballs.com/erik_erikson_psychosocial_theory.htm#erikson’s_ba-sic_virtues

4. Falbo, T., & Poston, D. L. (1993). The academic, personality, and physical outcomes of only children in China. Child Development, 64, 33-34.

5. Hesketh T., Ph.D., Li Lu, M.D., and Zhu Wei Xing, M.P.H.(2005) The Eff ect of China’s One-Child Family Policy after 25 Years

6. Hopkins B.,Ronald G. Bar, George F. Michel, Philippe Rochat (2005) The Cambridge Encyclo-pedia Of Child Development, Play p.361

7. Jiao, Ji G. & Jing, Q.(1996) Cognitive Development of Chinese Urban Only Children and Children with Siblings

8. McClellan, Diane E. - Katz, Lilian G. (2001) Assessing Young Children’s Social Competence.9. Michalko, M. (2006). Thinkertoys. a handbook of creative thinking. Berkeley, Ten Speed

Press. 10. Spodek, B. (1989). Chinese Kindergarten Education and its Reform. Early Childhood Re-

search Quarterly, 4, 31-50.

10.2 Websites

http://www.edu.cn/introduction_1395/20060323/t20060323_3897.shtml, Retrieved 22 April, 2010


Page | 57

Documents

B12 Project Report: Make the Robot Move (Me)