Toy Invention Programme

This is the first Toy Invention Programme in the UK.

It explores inventive thinking, concept development, inclusive design, histories and cultures around play and the prototyping, pitching and marketing of toys, games and interactive experiences.

Course Description

This course is run in partnership between Kingston School of Art and Spin Master. As collaborators we bring our industry and educational experience to this crash course in inventing toys, games and creative ways to play.

We draw on our combined communities of inventors, designers, innovators, makers, tinkerers and dreamers to introduce the critical, creative and business processes of invention.

We host our programme in the KSA studios and workshops, with a team of tutors and technicians and an array of visitors, including schoolchildren, storytellers and even some magicians! We'll interact with the wider creative communities at the university, provide access to Spin Master's everyday inventive processes and connect with fellow students across the globe—on sister courses in Hong Kong, Kyoto, Tel-Aviv and Toronto!

Example course structure

The course is structured as two units, each 14 weeks in length, and the curriculum throughout is anchored in four themes:

• Inspire by reimagining everyday objects, activities and spaces. Hacking materials and objects, gamifying and silly-fying situations and trends.
• Interact sensitively with those you invent with and for. Collaborative teamwork, ethical design processes and a series of sessions working face-to-face with end-users.
• Iterate ideas through sketching, hacking and prototyping. 3D and mechanical modelling, physical computing, video and animation, pitching to industry and to play experts—children!
• Inform play with critical understandings of children and the toy industry. Market analysis, sustainability literacy, the role of play in children's development.

Unit 1: Toolbox
We introduce the core mindsets and skill sets of a Toy Inventor.
Students invent from the get-go, with learning plugged into lightning quick one-day workshops and hacks, created and taught with professional Toy Inventors.

Unit 2: Takeoff
This sets students loose on two major projects, each lasting six weeks and focused on industry market categories, cultural themes of the moment and playful conceptual starting points. Students develop and pitch ideas in close dialogue with communities drawn from our partner Spin Master and Primary School communities.