Key Stages 2, 3 and 4+ Free Activity
Lesson Plan: Can you redesign an object to make it easier to use?
Grant Douglas was sitting at home being fed cornflakes by his mum when the phone rang. His mum answered the phone and as her conversation went on and on Grant could see his cornflakes getting soggier and soggier. Grant could try feeding himself but he has a condition called Cerebral Palsey which means that he shakes all the time.
Grant thought, ‘if only there was a way that I could feed myself...'. So he contacted Mark Penver at design company ‘4C’ and told him the problem. Mark set about designing a solution; a spoon that could be used by people with conditions that made them shake.
Watch Grant and Mark talk about the how the S’up spoon has changed eating forever.
Things to do
The S’up spoons brilliance is due to its simplicity. Can you find three pieces of simple but effective design that only have one part to them? It could be a shoehorn or a cup but it can only have one part.
Draw out your object on a piece of paper. How would you adapt your object so that it would be easier to use? Draw your alterations and additions to your object. This could be larger buttons that are easy to press or even a handle to hold on to. Give your design labels to show what materials you’ll make it from and any special features that it will have.
Share your illustration with the Design Museum on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram using #DesignFromHome.
To read
Young Design Museum
Sign up to our newsletter to be the first to know about new exhibitions, events, courses, access tours and more.