Looking for inspiration to create instructions for PERFECT blocks, we invited various guests to play. For several weeks, we watched them play, took photos and took notes. In addition to many interesting ideas for buildings, we also obtained a lot of information about how people of all ages perceive our bricks and how they play with them. Below we present a handful of information with our conclusions.
TODDLERS
The smallest children build simple and easy things. For them, the most important thing is that what they have created will be fun here and now. The greatest advantage of their simple designs is their imagination. In the case of three-year-olds, accidentally putting two blocks together is so much fun that it is often enough for a long time. A simple cross can be on a hammer for a moment, and then it turns into a plane, and finally the steering wheel of an invisible car. To our surprise, toddlers’ buildings often did not involve joining elements together. Children placed blocks on top of each other to build a high wall that was mainly suitable for tearing down. They arranged the blocks to form a narrow path or mark a fragment of the floor that was once a home for them, then a stage, and then a bed for sleeping. Each idea was spiced with a long moment of fun.
OLDER CHILDREN
Among this age group, houses and forts were the most popular. As it was in the case of toddlers, preschoolers do not consider the use of connectors. And without these elements, it is not easy to build a stable wall of the house. Consequently, erecting a house with a roof often turns out to be an unattainable challenge. In this age group, there are already very interesting ideas for “square” things, i.e. simple furniture, robots, chests, armors, large mobile phones, etc. Children do not take into account that elements can be bent and rounded to build something “round” . Only when they are given instructions or photos of sample wheel structures do they realize the new possibilities and enthusiastically set about working on new ideas.
YOUTH AND ADULTS
It is difficult to describe the possibilities of adults in one paragraph. Unlike most children, they have more patience and enjoy things that may not be functional but look nice. There are those who first set to work with enthusiasm, build a huge building, and only then wonder what it could be and possibly make corrections. When parents play together with children they play differently. They want to build something interesting for their child, so that they could use it for fun. It was in such circumstances that, for example, a large motor or a sledge was created.
Building using your own imagination, not disturbed by any tips and good advice, is extremely valuable and very creative fun. As the creators of Mammutico blocks, we know it perfectly well. Nevertheless, in the case of bricks from the PERFECT line, the presentation of instructions opens up a lot of additional possibilities for the user to play. Both children and adults enjoyed using the additional tips, and many of them used them only to implement their ideas, regardless of the final results in the textbook.