Hexa-Play is a sensory based toy designed to help students new to the Montessori method become familiar with the Montessori curriculum. Hexa-play has a number of gadgets designed to stimulate the senses of 2-5-year-olds. Hexa-Play is designed to grow and change with a student as they progress along their Montessori plan.

Who:

Hexa-Play is meant for students new to the Montessori style of learning and having trouble with the more self-directed way of learning

What:

Hexa-Play is a cube with different types of fidget-like objects on it. These vary from tactile die poppers to rain sticks or gear walls.

Why:

Hexa-Play is made to make kids have an easier and more enjoyable transition into the Montessori method. This avoids the kid feeling stuck, understimulated or lost.

Research & Observations

Children Have Agency

Children Are Expected to Communicate

Montessori Plan

Support Concentration

Active Learning

Lesson Plan

User Overview 

Age:

4-5

Number of Students:

1-2

Lessons:

Collaboration:

Fine & Gross Motor Skills, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving

Younger w/ Older

Phase 1: exploration

Phase 2: introduce vocab & concepts

• Remove the blue side from Hexa-Play and set the main box aside.
• Carefully examine the different gears and pegs, demonstrating how the gear moves around the peg.
• Remove one of the gears and move it to a different peg.

• Vocabulary
• Gear, Peg, Spin, Move,

• Concepts:
• Cause and effect

Phase 4: student practice

Phase 3: instructor demonstration

• Once the students have explored the gears and how they rotate, the instructor can demonstrate how gears can interact with each other.
• The instructor picks a gear up from its peg and places it so that it interlocks with a different gear.
• The instructor then spins the first gear and shows how it affects the second gear.
• The instructor then reattaches all of the gears and shows how the blue side fits back into the Hexa-Play.

• Allow the students to remove and play with the blue side (gear wall). If they try to remove a different side, direct them back to the blue side.
• When a student is done playing, encourage them to return the gears to their pegs and the blue side to the Hexa-Play. If the student moves on to a different toy and is focused, you can clean it up yourself and show them next time.

Potential Expansion

Thesis

Walk the Planks is a project that teaches self-advocacy and collaboration through a sensory group building activity. Two students must work together to allow for our character, Toby the T-Rex, to collect treasure from various pirate ships. Students take turns placing connectors and planks to form a "bridge" of sorts, advocating for their placements along the way. When not being used as a group activity, Walk the Planks can be used as a sensory fidget--the snap fasteners are fun to use, there are magnets, and things are connected, allowing for a more Montessori approach.

Designing for a Montessori client

Target kids who are new to or struggle with the Montessori method

We decided to tone down the "game-iness" of our game to be more of a collaborative experience

Have an elder student teach and mentor a younger student

Students were taught the Montessori method extensively

Students aren't given flashy or exciting toys, but constructive ones

Students are given (or choose) tasks where they can feel successful while paired with partners

Initial sketches, prototypes & ideas

Initial sketches, prototypes & ideas

Lesson Plan for Educators

Use & User Overview

Age of user: 3-6

Number of students: 2

Level of teacher supervision while playing: low to none, important for teacher to pair partners

Type of student collaboration: older and younger student or two students who need to practice collaboration and self-advocacy (paired by teacher)

Phase 1: Exploration

Phase 2: Vocab & Concepts

-Hold up a block, show the snap fastener to the kids

-Pick up a connector and show the other side of the snap fastener to the kids

-Place the block and connector near each other

-Introduce the necessary vocab

-Include words such as connector, plank, boat/ship

-Concepts: fastening and bridges

-Show how they snap together when introducing the concept of fastening

Phase 3: Two-player Demonstration

Phase 4: Rule Demonstration

-After exploration, allow for the instructor to demonstrate the turn-by-turn aspect with a second instructor

-Demonstrate placing the objects into their sorted bins

-Demonstrate the double connectors to create a split path

-Show the rules of the game, how the dinosaur can cross the bridge and get to the treasure when all of the bridges are connected

-Show a simple level being completed by drawing out the plan with a partner beforehand

-Introduce self-advocacy with a healthy disagreement with the partner

Phase 5: Booklet Demonstration

Phase 6: Free Choice

-Demonstrate copying a design from the booklet

-Show two or so levels at two different difficulty levels

-Allow for the kids to complete a level

-Give the kids free reign to clear a stage of their choice

-After, encourage them to put the items back

-Assist them if they have trouble clearing a level and encourage them to ask for help (self-advocate!)

Potential expansion

While this may not be a particularly useful tool for kids older than the 5-6 range, there are "difficulty settings" that can allow some students to build up their skills over time as opposed to a single round.

Additional notes for Wildflower teacher:

• What sorts of challenges might students face when playing with your toy?
• What should the teacher be prepared for?
• What should the teacher be aware of?
• If the pieces break, there are small parts that can become choking hazards.
• Pair students in a way that can allow for them to self-advocate
• Allow for students to play in their own way if they don't want to play the game

Thesis

Obscured Mimicry is a simple, two-player game based on communication and interpreting verbal cues. The game is composed of two sets of blocks and a visual divider. The goal of Obscured Mimicry is to create a structure out of wooden blocks and communicate how to recreate that structure to your partner.

Designing for a Montessori client

Obscured Mimicry addresses intellectual learning based on the understanding of positioning

Obscured Mimicry addresses didatic learning as the children need to learn how to communicate their structure

Obscured Mimicry teaches children physically by tuning their fine motor skills and allowing them to investigate the texture and color of the blocks.

The classroom does not have any electronics

Natural woods are used in many places around the classroom

The Montessori curriculum is set, hasn't incorporated a programming element

Initial sketches, prototypes & ideas

Survey Questions & Results

Material Prefrences

Final project photos [delete]

User Overview

• Two students
• Three to five years old
• Social, likes building

User Characteristics

Activity Attributes

• Low-medium supervision is required
• Pairings of older and younger students make it easier for the younger student to grasp the concept

Lesson Plan for Educators

Phase 1: exploration

Phase 2: introduce vocab & concepts

• The instructor places each set of blocks on either side of a table.

• The instructor picks up one of the square blocks

• Carefully examine the corners and texture

• Place it back down

• Repeat for every block type

• Set the blocks out on the table



• Allow children to hold and investigate the blocks

• The instructor picks up one of the square blocks

• Teach vocabulary about the primitive shape of the block held: "cube, square, box"

• Repeat for every block type with vocabulary such as "triangle, half-circle, rectangle, trapezoid"

• Teach vocabulary on positioning, "above, below, front, back, right, left"



• Portray each position by moving squares and triangles around.

Phase 4: student practice

Phase 3: instructor support

• Have two children sit across from each other, each with a set of blocks

• Let the children examine the blocks

• If you see a child building a structure, ask the other child to copy the structure.

• Otherwise, ask one of the children to build a structure

• Once the child has finished the structure, ask the other child to copy the structure

• When finished, return the game to the wall

• Show the children how to put it away

• Place the visual divider in the center of the table

• Sit two children opposite from each other on each side of the divider

• Instruct a child to construct a structure

• Have the other child build following the child's instructions

• When both are finished, allow them to look at each other's structures

• Make sure that the children switch roles before replaying

Video Demo (1-2 minutes)

Potential expansion

Some potential spaces for expansion would be the addition of a natural element, incorporation of curved blocks, and increase in the numbers of blocks.

Additional notes for Wildflower teacher:

• The children may have trouble finely manipulating the larger blocks
• The teacher should be prepared to emphasize the vocabulary
• The teacher should be aware of the various shapes of blocks

Burn No Bridges is a project that teaches self-advocacy and collaboration through a sensory group building activity. Two students must work together to build a bridge- one has the pieces, and one has the snap fasteners, advocating for their block placements along the way. The act of fastening requires the two students to work together- one must hold the bridge up while the other attaches the fasteners, constructing the bridge. When not being used as a group activity, Burn No Bridges can be used as a sensory fidget- the snap fasteners and suspension of the pieces are a great tool to build muscle strength for 3-5 year olds, and the "snap" feeling and noise are incredibly satisfying.

Who: 3-5 year old children that are currently struggling with self-advocacy

What: Project that assists with the learning of self-advocacy through an enriching and sensory experience

Why: Kids may have difficulty adapting from an environment that discourages self-advocacy to one that encourages it, and some kids may simply struggle with it in the Montessori system

https://improvingliteracy.org/kit/self-advocacy

Burn No Bridges Bertha

Core Needs

-Needs help advocating for herself socially

-Needs a sensory experience to learn

-Requires some help socially interacting with other students

Pain Points

-Has difficulty transitioning from the public school system to the Montessori school system, where self-advocacy is rewarded

-Due to her age and lack of Montessori experience, has difficulty expressing her personal needs to a teacher

-Struggles with collaborative projects

Motivation

-Loves creativity and building blocks

-Loves playing with friends at recess

-Wants a fun and engaging way to learn

About

-4 years old

-Goes to Greenhouse Montessori School

-Lawful Evil

-Struggles when overstimulated or understimulated

-Shy and struggles with some social interaction

-Lives in Boston

"If I have an idea and fail to create it before my death, that idea is lost forever."

Key Design Features:

-Wooden blocks that act as planks for a bridge

-Fasteners that allow for the wooden blocks to stay together

-A design requiring 2 players for the "main game"

Next Steps:

-Begin prototyping and purchase or create then test fasteners

-Start cardboard bridge model

-Accrue knowledge

Thesis

In early childhood education, the ability to self-manage risk is rarely introduced, with risk either being removed or having explicit procedures to manage. We believe that Montessori environments would be able to successfully incorporate Un-Blocking Risk, our project which aims to give kids control over risk in their play. By challenging them to build a tower as tall as they're comfortable in the stability of, we can teach risk without contradicting Montessori values.

Designing for a Montessori client

Exposure to tactile objects as a form of motor skill development

Natural materials, exploration of materials and textures

Student preference for playing alone or next to other people not actively participating

Classrooms are set up to make students feel successful all the time

Students enjoy stacking things, especially abstract objects

Simple shapes and minimalist aesthetic

"How did you play with blocks as a kid?"

"How many blocks would you want in a set?"

Bar graph:

"How scared are you of failure?"

Sketches

Renderings

Intended User Overview

Age of User: 3-5 years

Number of Students: 1-2



User (student) characteristics:

Curious, good spatial awareness, Risk Averse or Risk Prone

Level of teacher supervision while playing:

Low upon confirming that the student will not attempt to consume the toy

Lesson Plan for Educators

Phase 1: exploration

Phase 2: introduce vocab & concepts

• Instructor takes one block and rotates it in their hand, then puts it down on the ground.
• Instructor takes a second block, feels around it, and puts it down on top of the first block.
• Instructor leaves student to stack further blocks. If student is still unsure, instructor can do this a third time.

• In this phase, the instructor will introduce core vocabulary and the concept of stacking.
• Vocabulary: Tall, Short, Medium, Stack, Up, Down
• Concepts: Stacking and unstacking, balance

Phase 4: student practice

Phase 3: instructor demonstration

• Instructor takes blocks of the same shape but different materials, picks them up, inspects them, and says the name of the material (rubber, plastic, or wood) and puts them down next to each other.
• Instructor builds tower of singular material until it falls, demonstrating the idea of choice of material by picking up, inspecting, and putting down blocks not made of their chosen material.

• Instructor gives the blocks to the student, handing one of each shape and material to the student, one at a time, before handing them the full container.
• Instructor observes to make sure the students do not attempt to eat the blocks, particularly the rubber ones.
• Instructor encourages students to put blocks away.

Video Demo (1-2 minutes)

Additional notes for Wildflower teacher:

• The rubber and wood finish used are food-safe, but students should still be reminded not to eat the pieces.
• If the student attempts to use the toy to build something other than a tall tower, that shouldn't be discouraged, but a reminder of the idea might help some students.
• Some students may need to be reminded that it's okay if it falls.