Designing for Kids
Creating for Playing, Learning, and Growing

Designers, especially design students, rarely have access to children or their worlds when creating products, images, experiences and environments for them. Therefore, fine distinctions between age transitions and the day-to-day experiences of children are often overlooked.

Designing for Kids brings together all a designer needs to know about developmental stages, play patterns, age transitions, playtesting, safety standards, materials and the daily lives of kids, providing a primer on the differences in designing for kids versus designing for adults. Research and interviews with designers, social scientists and industry experts are included, highlighting theories and terms used in the fields of design, developmental psychology, sociology, cultural anthropology and education.

This textbook includes more than 150 color images, helpful discussion questions and clearly formatted chapters, making it relevant to a wide range of readers. It is a useful tool for students in industrial design, interaction design, environmental design and graphic design with children as the main audience for their creations.

Part I The Design Process 1. The Research and Design Process Part II Child Development 2. Development Stages 3. Physical Development 4. Cognitive Development 5. Social and Emotional Development Part III Childhood Today 6. Play 7. Education 8. Children's Spaces 9. Children's Media and Technology

Krystina Castella is a professor of industrial design and business at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California, USA. Krystinahas practiced as a designer and has taught at ArtCenter College of Design across disciplines for almost three decades. Her research and teaching center around designing for play, the intersection between design and ethical business, designing for social innovation, and sustainable materials and manufacturing innovation.