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creation. The process, which extended for a period of 3 years, involved six classes
of 5-year-old preschoolers and six preschool teachers. From the conception to the
development of the fi nal product, several design iterations were carried with the
children, in which the research team tried to understand how to design an engaging
and compelling tool, for children to play around and experiment with story ele-
ments, creating their own narratives. The design of the digital tool was based on the
assumption that narrative construction should be centred on the playful character of
language and the pleasure in dealing with words through playful experimentation,
where children are “players rather than spectators” (Bruner
1966
: 95).
12.2
Materials for Exploring the World
Using objects to promote exploration and spark imagination has a long tradition that
can be traced back to Friedrich Fröbel - the creator of the world's fi rst kindergarten
in Germany, in 1840. Fröbel developed a curriculum for young children where they
could engage in
self-activity
and
self-expression
through play (Fröbel
1909
: vi).
Core to his approach were the
gifts
, a collection of 20 physical objects that included
balls, strings, sticks and blocks and were used as play materials to help children
think about and express their ideas. The concept behind the
gifts
was that the manip-
ulation of familiar forms, present in everyday life and in nature, facilitates the com-
prehension of abstract concepts (Brosterman
1997
).
Like Fröbel, Maria Montessori highlighted the importance of using objects and
actively engaging in exploring the environment. Montessori's method, based on the
Didactic Materials
, addressed the stimulation of every sense (Montessori
1912
),
and the design principle behind each of the objects from the
Didactic Materials
set
was to raise children's interest and curiosity.
12.2.1
Digital Manipulatives
Recent technological developments made it possible to embed computational
technology in objects, creating a new interaction paradigm with digital technology.
Digital manipulatives
1
(Resnick et al.
1998
) also referred to as tangible user inter-
faces (TUIs) (Ishii and Ullmer
1997
) or tangible systems provide a more natural
interaction, stimulating sensory and whole body perception giving users freedom of
movements while creating richer experiences. Research has shown that physical
1
The term digital manipulatives has been coined by Resnick and the lifelong kindergarten at the
MIT Media Laboratory, Cambridge, MA, referring to a new generation of computationally
enhanced manipulative materials that enable children to interact with digital information (Resnick
et al.
1998
). In the scope of this work, we will use the terms digital manipulatives, tangible user
interfaces (TUIs), or tangible systems as synonyms.
