Desenvolvimento de protótipo de brinquedo com materiais sustentáveis

Abstract

Most toys produced today are made from petroleum-based plastics. There is a significant problem in the excessive consumption of these toys, as there is a great incentive to consume, a lot is produced, and consequently a lot is discarded, and this constant contact of children with plastic can cause health problems. The point is that plastic has a very long decomposition time, and all this disposal ends up generating a significant accumulation of garbage. However, playing is very important for the development and distraction of children, and playful games, which are not directly educational, help in this development and encourage creativity. In this way, it is necessary to continue thinking and proposing some alternatives to plastic toys, which have a reduced environmental impact. Therefore, the work proposes the development of a toy prototype with sustainable materials for children from 6 to 8 years old. The material chosen for this was raw wood, without considering its by-products because some may contain dangerous products for children, and the wood used is a wood that would be discarded found among the residues of the laboratory of models of the University. The type of wood used in this project was Eucalyptus wood that was part of a pallet. This wood has a huge importance in the Brazilian market, it is a wood that is reforested and that allows the development of small wooden objects, which is the intention of this project. The methodology that guides the development of this prototype is Human Centered Design (HCD), with the stages of hear, create and deliver. For the hear stage, the children and teachers of a school were heard, in the create stage the prototype project was developed, and in the deliver stage the prototype was developed and finalized, taking care for the health and well-being of the children, and the product functionality was tested. Through it, it was possible to reach the prototype that met the proposed objectives, but there are some suggestions for improvement for a possible continuation of the project.