Divorce rates in Singapore have been increasing and most cases occur between 5 to 9 years of marriage. Divorce can cause lifelong effects and various adverse impacts on a child. Children’s emotional needs and feelings are often neglected when their parents split. When that happens, these children often face different forms of trauma and emotional instability due to new stressors such as worry, fear, and uncertainty. Known to be one of the ACEs, which stands for Adverse Children Experiences, various studies and reports from the Ministry of Social and Family Development have shown that divorce can cause different problems in children, which have a lasting impact and affects them through to adulthood. Therefore, the aim of this project is to enable children to process and express their feelings when their parents are divorced, by developing an interactive children storybook as a tool for them to share and navigate their emotions.
The Spectrum of Play is a project that centres around the social issue of gender-typing in children’s toys: like how dolls are almost exclusively marketed to little girls, and cars and dinosaurs to little boys. In a world where gender is increasingly understood as a spectrum, imposing arbitrary gender boundaries on children stratifies development along gender lines, forcing children into boxes and perpetuating outdated stereotypes.
Spectrum aims to both promote the awareness of gender-typing in toys and its impacts, and encourage the cultivation of a more gender-inclusive culture of play and parenting, so that children can freely explore the world and their interests without being tied down to societal expectations.
Start your journey into the project at www.thespectrumofplay.com.
Housing Development Box is a series of educational construction games, that uses architecture to foster children’s (aged 9-12) interests in Singapore’s past and present. It also hopes to encourage meaningful intergenerational exchange between child, parents and grandparents.
The project includes historical research, identifying key architectural typologies within the context of Singapore’s History (from early 20th century up to the 1960s): Attap stilt houses, Black and White Bungalows, Shophouses and Housing Development Board (HDB) apartment blocks.
The game is developed based on accurate reference to the four types of houses and is meant to have children learn about the transition from traditional to modern architecture through play.
Each house type is designed to be modular and easily separated to be reassembled in different configurations. With the toy, children may choose to either reconstruct a traditional house or opt to use their creativity to create something entirely unique: a new architecture or, by combining multiple houses, to form and reimagine the city.
An essential part of the design strategy is the creation of educational materials, consisting of both printed and augmented reality components to be used on IPads. These integrated components provide depth to the learning and enable children, parents and grandparents to explore memories and meaningful stories together.
“Oddo” is a tool for young learners between the ages of 3 and 6 years old. Its purpose is intended to illustrate basic mathematical concepts. As children are visually developed first as compared to the rest of their senses, it is usually easier to capture their attention through the visual aspect. Therefore, I made use of the Fibonacci sequence in my design process to help me create an interesting and well balanced form. Taking reference from how the domino tiles portray numbers, my product adapts this idea to show the process of basic mathematic concepts such as addition. Through this illustration, mathematics is made more comprehensible and engaging. At the same time, young learners can understand mathematics more effortlessly. The outcome of this project aimed to develop a mental image for children which would lead them to performing mental sums.
Tuwa’s Journey is a motivational visual narrative that aims to encourage a persevering attitude within young children. This project is designed to target children 3 to 6 years old, exploring how illustration can help discuss and communicate the importance of perseverance, which will be useful when encountering issues stemming from potential challenges that children are bound to face on their journey to adulthood.
The story features Tuwa, a Tuwabin who lacks the ability to change colours, and follows his journey where his persevering spirit enabled him to fulfil his desire to change colour like the rest of the Tuwabins, despite the many challenges faced.
Through this project, I hope to encourage a ‘can-do’ spirit so that children will grow up learning to build grit, focus, and achieve their goals, providing a foundation that helps lead them to a more positive outlook.
