toy design summer camp for kids and teens
Remember the days when kids would invent their own games and toys? DesignX taps into a child’s natural desire to invent for play and in the process connect and socialize in meaningful ways. In a fun and stimulating environment that is surrounded by games, stuffed animals, toys and tools—your kids will design and engineer hard and soft toys while learning about materials, safety considerations and true value of play.
They will learn how to ideate, sketch, sew and embellish his and her own soft or wood toy, while laying a foundation of practical skills that last a lifetime. Unlike game design in a virtual world -- this is the real thing! They can touch and feel it and play with friends at playdates and more. Students learn to use a variety of tools and techniques like sewing machines, saws etc to make their physical toys/games come alive!
Toy Design I
Toy design I involves learning to use fabrics as a material for making soft toys. Budding toy designers and makers will learn how to turn their own unique design from a sketch into a furry, funny or fiery plush creation.
kids will learn:
Purpose and different types of toys
Adapt patterns, cuttings, pinning, hand & machine sewing
How toys have evolved over time
How traditions and culture influence toy design.
Toy Design II
Toy Design II involves learning to use wood as a material for making toys. Our budding toy designers create their own game or toy while gaining an understanding of the ‘play’ element in the toys they encounter in their lives.
Kids get to proudly display their creations at the Toy Expo at the end of the session.
kids will learn:
Purpose of toys for humans
Skills in geometry, planning and visualizing in 3D form
To be comfortable with tools like hammer, nails and saws
How traditions and culture influence toys
How type of materials (ex: fabric vs wood) influence design decisions
What parents and kids are saying about TOY design
*All supplies included
Instructor Feature
amy brown
founder of Jumbo Jibbles has this to say:
“Want to create a love of veggies? Try my plush toys…”
Note: DesignX instructors are often working professionals that are thoughtfully selected to lead our classes. As such, instructors for any given class may change based on their availability.
Frequently Asked Questions
+ WHERE CAN I LEARN TO DESIGN A TOY?
If you are in elementary, middle or high school in the Bay Area, CA look no more. You are in the right place and one of the BEST. DesignX is in fact one of the first companies that created a curriculum to teach toy making to kids and teens. We literaly pulled it out of our proverbial hats. If kids are the ones using the toys why not have them design it -- right? Kids afterall invented some of the earliest toys/games known to mankind -- albeit with sticks and rocks!
+ HOW CAN I DESIGN A PLUSH TOY AND ORDER IT?
In our Toy Design Programs kids and teens learn how to DESIGN a plush toy and then proceed to MAKE the Toy -- both soft (plush) and hard toys. This is not game design in a virtual world -- it is the real thing! You can touch and feel it and play with friends at playdates and more. Kids will learn to use a variety of tools and techniques like sewing machines, saws etc to make their physical toys/games come alive -- You design it and you make it and is lots of fun! Check out the soft toy gallery and wood toy gallery for some of the toys/games designed and made at our summer camps in Bay Area, CA.