Empowering children to create an impact on their surroundings through means and methods of design

Design Academy for Young Children and Youth is a joint undertaking of Ornamo and Designmuseum Helsinki. The mission of the project is to bring design thinking and design learning to the school system through collaboration between designers and schools.

In fall 2020 I had the opportunity to join Design Academy as a part time teacher for six weeks. During the time frame, I taught a class of 35 4th graders, with the goal of familiarizing the students with the practice and methods of design.

The module was integrated into the class of elective environmental studies, and the selected theme was improving the school yard. My work entailed planning the module in collaboration with the class teachers and client representatives, as well as designing materials and teaching the module. The classes took place mainly outdoors due to the pandemic.