HERE IS A LOOK AT DAY 1 OF THE APRIL 2019 ‘MAKING INNOVATORS’ KIDS EDITION SEMINAR.

HERE IS A LOOK AT DAY 1 OF THE APRIL 2019 ‘MAKING INNOVATORS’ KIDS EDITION SEMINAR.

George Masila
April 17, 2019
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Well well well! It’s day one of the April 2019 Making Innovators, kids edition seminar and so far things look extremely good. The young innovators now have a background on design thinking, they have learned to work in teams, how to solve a problem using the circular design approach and already know how to sympathize with the user. Nice progress right?

Here is a look of how their day was.

Activity 1: Building the tallest tower possible that can hold an egg using straws and tape.

**Young innovators building a tower using straws and tape.**

The children went trough the first activity of the day which was meant to kick-start them and open up their minds on how they can employ creativity and use circular design by maximizing the available local materials to design and create solutions. This activity was done in groups. Different towers came up, some were weak, others were strong but the lesson for the activity was ‘Everyone wins and in design thinking everything goes.’

Activity 2: April 2019 Design Thinking Challenge defined.

**Dr. Tonny Omwansa defining the ‘April 2019 Design Thinking Challenge.’**

The second activity was an introduction of design thinking in the context of the April 2019 Design Thinking Challenge. Dr. Tonny Omwansa stated that the kids will create a toy car that moves as far as possible without batteries or being pushed. This concept was inspired by children who live in poor families in the slums of Nairobi and can’t afford modern toy cars to play with. The young innovators would then ideate within this challenge.

Activity 3: Empathy explained and Staging a User experience skit.

**Young innovators staging their skit on empathy and user experience.**

The young innovators regrouped after a session with Shelmith to stage a skit on empathy and user experience. This activity helped them answer the questions the user of a product would ask. Using the empathy map and persona, the children perfectly defined empathy in relation to design thinking.

Well, it’s a wrap for today. The children have learned a lot and the energy is overwhelming. The teamwork and number of ideas coming up from these children is overwhelming! We can’t wait to see how they handle the definition and ideation phases tomorrow.