How can I make use of toys as a medium to understand concepts in our textbook ? This one question led me to my exciting journey in the world of automata toys, which started around a year back. Here is what I learnt so far.….
Toys are fun, and fun is important ! By definition, toys are for children but they can also be for adults. Automata, also known as mechanical toys, have universal appeal which transcends all ages. Fascination lies in a simple automated movement, whether the mechanism is hidden or revealed.
Automata toys are “story telling mechanical sculptures”. These are child-tailored communication devices, much appreciated by the children and easy to realize in the classroom. These whimsical and wonderful machines combine art, play, humor, science and engineering. Automata toys are complete units that typically tell a short story—someone chopping wood, a horse running, men fishing, etc. They utilize a combination of levers, cranks, linkages, cams, shafts, ratchets, gearing, and drives. Building automata toys is a good example of integrating science and art with an activity. For learners, the narrative and decorative aspects are as important as the mechanical elements. It is an involved process that has a lot of potential for stimulating the imagination of students and providing a fun, practical learning platform.
The Automata toy consists of two parts: its top features and an underlying mechanical assembly. In the mechanical part, simple machine elements like cams, levers and linkages are used in a playful way. Features are brought to life with the help of paper figures, colors and other craft ideas.
Keywords like creative thinking, verbal and non-verbal communication, adaptability, choice-making and more came to life in the automata workshops I conducted with teachers as well as students. Participants are guided to design and build their own automata using everyday material like corrugated sheet, sticks and straws.
Typical introductory session on this topic lasts for 2-3 hours in which participants work in teams. To begin with, the team discusses an event, process or abstract concept to work on. Lots of ideas are discussed and debated during this phase. Once an idea is finalized, the team comes up with a short story. Students choose stories based on animals, sports, hobbies or festivals while teachers try to choose concepts from the textbook. Story dictates how automata toy will come to life. Some parts of the story represent static parts while other parts are candidates for movement. Action verbs shortlisted from the story will drive the movement of automata toy.
It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Drawing a picture of an automata toy and related mechanism is the most important step in the whole process. Team members can express their ideas in a better way through pictures. Some gaps are also identified at this juncture. Picture or schematic of the toy gives team members an opportunity to communicate how they feel about the construction process to be followed. In some instances, teams chose different action verbs as the selected one seemed too difficult to build.
With a rough blueprint of the toy ready, the team gathers input material like a box of corrugated sheet, wheels made from foam sheet, kebab sticks and thick paper. Members having inclination on the art side take up work like character drawing, cutting and painting. Others start connecting wheels, axles and the related motion part. Individual contribution in the area of one’s choice can be seen in this phase. Any creative work involves challenges, difficulties and rewards. Building automata toy step offers these in abundance. Team normally goes through a couple of iterations before the automata toy comes to life. Many times it is only half done for want of time but joy of achieving part of the functionality is none the less visible.
In many instances, teams collaborate with other teams as well to learn from their creations as well as offer help in fixing things for others. Towards the end of the workshop, it's fulfilling to see your working automata toy placed next to the other toys. Participants enjoy the process more than the final automata toy itself. Many feel that making automata toy is not a very easy process which they initially thought but it is a satisfying and rewarding thing to do, especially when it finally works !
There is much more to learn and do in this field. Difficult to understand concepts in the textbook can be taken up as a theme for Automata toy. This automata toy can complement as a teaching aid in the classroom. Static models created by students as a part of a project can be brought to life by adding motion in the same. Automata building activity allowed students to tinker with lots of things, guided by whim, imagination and curiosity. While tinkering, there are no instructions - but there are also no failures, no right or wrong ways of doing things. It's all about figuring out how things work and reworking them.
Note : Creations done by students and teachers are available at the following URL
https://tinyurl.com/automatatoys
No comments:
Post a Comment