Designing Toys and Play Activities for the Development of Social Skills in Childhood

Abstract

Although the influence of toys and play activities on child development is a consistent research topic in psychological research, designing artefacts explicitly for social growth can be considered a novel topic in design research. This paper focuses on identifying design opportunities to develop toys and play activities to stimulate social skills in school age children. Twenty-two participatory observations were carried out with children attending the first two years of school. The analysis revealed 15 ways in which social skills can be stimulated by toys and play activities. Design insights are given to each of the 15 categories.