Hot off the press!

One of the most exciting things about the Curiosity Project is that we can now 3D print toy objects for children to play with in our studies. By custom designing these toys we can change aspects of them, for example their shape and colour, and see how this affects what children do with them.

Here’s an early example of one of our toys! Katie designed these using 3D design software, then printed them using a Makerbot Replicator+ 3D printer, generously funded by ESRC.

The degree of control over our stimuli that the Makerbot offers us is unprecedented – this little object marks the beginning of an important new research direction which will help us understand what type of environment is best for children to learn from.