Multi-Generational Learning in the Context of Toy Design

Abstract

Education is a vital process for everyone, it helps people to think, feel, and behave, which contributes to their success. Education is important not just for children but also for the elderly. The increasing proportion of elderlies globally raises the importance of lifelong learning, specifically elder education. Furthermore, the significance of the grandparent-grandchildren relationship increased due to two factors:The number of grand families -the nuclear family living with the grandparents -increased globally by 7.3% (Beltran, 2019), and the average lifespan of people increased. Therefore, multi-generational learning, the learning derived from old and young generation interaction, takes an important role in families and society as a whole. Past studies show that multi-generational education benefits both age groups in various ways. For children, grandparents offer life wisdom, acceptance, love, and positive effects on a child's well-being, whereas for the elderly, having strong connections with the younger generation allows them to be exposed to new ideas and information, especially technology-related knowledge. Based on the research conducted, results show that over 70% of parents and grandparents find a lack in grandparent-grandchildren interaction, reducing the chances of multi-generational learning, whereas the majority of them find indoor toys a good tool to boost grandparents-grandchildren interaction. According to the criteria stated, a toy was specially designed for elders and children to enhance the training skills, boost the entertainment aspect of existing toys, and at the same time increase multi-generational learning and interaction. Based on the feedback from users, possible improvements were identified and modified for future development.

Do Grandparents Contribute to Their Grandchildren’s Learning through Shared Leisure Activities?

“…The children experience, as an essential motivating factor for the practice of these recreational, cultural and environmental activities, the fact that their grandparents share their knowledge and experiences with them. This finding is in line with previous studies that support these leisure contexts as an essential substrate for intergenerational learning [16,20,[36][37][38][39].…”

“…These four activities are very interesting tools to stimulate and reinforce children's learning, to involve grandparents in their grandchildren's education and to take advantage of their knowledge and experience, as well as their ability to stimulate their grandchildren to turn free time into valuable leisure time that maximises the family's well-being and development. Moreover, this learning environment in families can lead to the joint organization of diverse experiences of cultural [17,18], recreational [16] or environmental leisure [19][20][21][22][23], thus fostering in children, from the stage of primary education, the acquisition and reinforcement of habits in the practice of leisure that are likely to endure throughout their lives, especially as the scientific literature evidences that it is in this period that the future traits of an individual are founded [40,41].…”

“…Different leisure practices underpin intergenerational learning, including those related to digital leisure and mobile technology [13,14], physical leisure activities with sports and orienteering activities [15], playful leisure activities such as board games [16], cultural leisure experiences with arts and cultural activities [17,18] or initiatives enjoyed in the natural environment such as family or urban gardens [19][20][21][22][23].…”