Design Thinking Students Create Interactive Wall

Middle and upper school design thinking students have been hard at work creating an interactive play wall, dubbed the Magnificent Magnetic Maze, for students to enjoy.
  

The wall was inspired by an exhibit Design Thinking Teacher Brendan Hoyle saw while on last year’s San Francisco LEAP Term trip.

“It’s constructed of PVC, sheet metal, 3D printed specialty pieces as well as handmade pieces,” said Sarah M. ’23, one of the students involved in the project.

The wall will eventually live in the Stanton Library, where they hope it fosters an environment for communication and learning, as well as give students something to tinker with during their downtime.

“The purpose is to benefit upper schoolers and middle schoolers by introducing an interactive, fun exhibit to the school and to increase the number of people who visit the library,” said Adrianna B. ’24.

Students made the pieces using 3D printers in the MakerLabs. As they played with it, they created new pieces to extend the opportunities involved. They even created different challenges to prompt students to interact with the wall. For example, students could find the fastest route to the bottom or complete a maze route using the least number of pieces or only specific pieces.

Lower school students took it for a spin during their Global School Play Day on Feb. 1, and it was a hit. Accompanied by old students, they moved pieces around and played their hearts out.

 

“We had a blast,” said Hoyle.