Engineered with empathy

Recently, Year 9 Design Tech students from our school completed an assessment task that required them to design and build toys for our Pre-Kindy students.

On an earlier visit, the Year 9 students consulted with the Pre-Kindy students to assess what toys they would like to be built.

A few months later, the students returned with the fruits of their labour – a swag load of toys for the children.

The interaction was not one-sided, though – the older students learned much about designing with empathy for the little kids.

Jon Burnett, Head of Technologies – Suncoast Christian College, comments: “Having a real-world client to work with makes the process of designing a toy more authentic, and it was beautiful to see the Year 9’s working hard across the term to ensure that their Little Learner buddies would receive toys to play with that were safe, beautifully finished and built to last.” 

Suncoast Christian College is blessed to have such a caring group of teenagers willing to devote their time and energy to serving the local community by producing these age-appropriate gifts catering to fine- and gross motor skill development. It’s also fun!

Jon comments futher: “Some of the most significant rewards for both parties were the smiles on everybody’s faces as the Year 9’s became friends with the pre-kindy kids over several visits.”

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