Final Project Ideas (CSC Visit)

For our ENGR 160 final project, we are going to design products to improve young childrens' classroom experiences.  We observed preschool-aged children during their class time and talked to the teachers about some of the problems they had in the classroom.  We asked them what we might be able to do to help them in the classroom and what could help the children.

Some challenges we learned about were:

• Keeping the children on their mats:
• During certain class times, the teacher has all the children sit on small rectangular mats to keep them still. Sometimes the kids stray off their mats, and teachers have to constantly remind them to stay on their mats.

• Letting them know not to splash water out of the water table:
• Each classroom has a water table with toys in it for children to play with.  However, they often like to splash water around and it gets on the floor, making it slippery.

• Making sure the noise level is not too loud
• The classrooms often get loud during free play time, especially with older children.  Teachers must frequently remind them to use their inside voices.

• Reminding the kids to wash their hands with soap and water after using the bathroom

• The kids are sometimes scared by the toilet flushing loudly

• The lock on the bathroom isn't easy to open.

A few ideas I am interested in are monitoring the noise level in the class, keeping the kids on their mats, and making sure the kids wash their hands after the bathroom.

Noise Level ideas

• Creating some type of meter with red, yellow, and green
• Using something that senses noise level or loudness
• Need to make sure it doesn't make sound or excite children too much

Keeping Children on Mats

• Touch sensor on mat
• Light turns on when child is not on mat, turns off when child is on mat
• Maybe have a tool for the teacher to know who is off their mat

Washing Hands

• Sound of toilet flushes causes something to happen at sink, maybe a light or message reminder
• Lights indicating steps of hand washing
• Ultrasonic sensor to sense when child is at sink