Design-Centric Solution | Critter Trails: Teaching Charitable Giving Through Play

OVERVIEW
‍Critter Trails is a collaborative play-based educational tool where everyone works together and wings together. Children will work as a team to collect and donate toys. Playing Critter Trails board game will teach children the value of charitable giving more effectively. Young humans will experience a “warm feeling” of giving and learn lessons about charitable actions with real reasons behind them.

DESCRIPTION
The critters are excited to run on the trails, collect toys, and give them to the children who do not have any playthings. But the monkey is watching. He wants to take all the toys for himself.
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Work together to lay the trail to help the critters to complete the task. The critters must put all the toys into the donation toy box before the monkey gets to it.

CHARACTERS

Critters are the main characters of the board game because elementary school kids are deeply interested in animals (Cambino). The selected characters have biological and reciprocal altruistic characteristics. A bat, a dolphin, a parrot, a wild African dog, a monkey, and a bee will teach children the value of charitable giving with toys.

CARDS

The cards will guide children to work together and pave the way for the critters to complete their noble task. The critters must place all the toys into the donation toy box before the monkey can snatch them.

TOY DONATION BOX

The players will help critters bring their toys and collect more playthings on the trail. They will place all toys into a donation toy box at the the end of the trail.

TRAIL TILES

The players will build trails on the board using trail tiles.

TOYS

The designer created miniature 3-D playthings for the players to practice donating them and learn the value of charitable giving with their toys.

The researcher created an educational game-based tool to more effectively teach children the value of charitable giving where kids can understand the real causes of kind actions and experience “good feelings” of giving. As a result, they will be more involved in decision-making process, aware of the reasons for kind deeds, and willingly participate in philanthropic actions.

Children will learn that “Charity is somewhere where people go who haven’t got a home, they give them food and water and a bed” (Girl, 6) (Body et AL. 197).

The children will understand that “You can get different charities, some are for toyless children for children who don’t have toys, and another type for saving lives” (Boy, 8) (Body et AL. 196).

Limitations
Because of the time constraints and only one researcher working on the study, the design-centric solution will satisfy the initial steps to market and start the program more effectively. It will improve the process of organizing philanthropic actions with a play-based educational tool to teach children the value of charitable giving within schools and families. As a result, children will be willing to support others because they care and understand the reasons behind their kind deeds.

FUTURE INITIATIVE AND RESEARCH
The researcher will broaden the process by establishing partnerships and logistics schools, charities, toy manufacturers, and other business partners. The Future Mobil application and QR codes will help track donated playthings. The kids who receive toys will accumulate points (in the form of hugs) for leaving thank you notes or messages in the app. Those points will be exchanged for tickets to children’s activities and entertainment venues. The program will start in the United States with the opportunity to spread abroad and coordinate with international charities.

Better children's understanding of the causes for charitable giving and improved process of philanthropic actions in schools and families should give children decision-making power and encourage them to participate more willingly in giving.

Solution