Toy Stories Make Science Come Alive

What do a hungry caterpillar, a Viking ship, twirling dancers and a dynamic playground have in common? Believe it or not, they’re all toys that combine science with a child’s imaginative spontaneity – and emerged as winners in the 2007 Sony Creative Science Award (SCSA).

Thirty-six entries out of an astounding 3,000 made the final selection at the awards ceremony on 24 July 2007 at the Singapore Science Centre. Regardless of which scientific principle these toys illuminated, they certainly showed that kids today aren’t just good at playing with toys – they’re even better at coming up with new ones to entertain themselves.

Take Xavier Ho Li Wei’s Playground, for instance, which won the first prize in the WhizKid category for toys developed around the theme of magnetic motion. The colourful, elaborate installation features toy figurines on a roundabout and swing.

Magical motion with magnets

In recreating his favourite playgrounds, Xavier placed hidden magnets in the playground items. These magnets cause the swing to move to and fro and the figurines to spin around on the roundabout.

Creating the toy helped Xavier to discover and understand the principles of magnetism, attraction and repulsion. An avid collector of toy figurines and role-playing cards, the Pri 4 student from Nan Chiau Primary School hopes to be a scientist some day.

Another magnet-driven toy, Angelina Ping Jia Yin’s Happy Dancers, won a Special Award in the WhizKid category. When a wheel on Happy Dancers is turned, two dolls pirouette on a stage and attempt to pluck a flower and ring a bell, thanks to strategically placed magnets.

Angelina’s inspiration was completely personal, “I’m a ballet dancer, and when I’m dancing I feel very happy.” A Pri 4 student at Shuqun Pri School, she designed the dancers’ rich costumes using raffia and other homemade materials, with a little help from her mother.

Ships and Slingshots

Inspiration for these award-winning toys came from all quarters. For Low Wei Quan of Jurong West Primary School, regular trips to East Coast Park gave rise to his WhizKid Merit Prize winner Viking, a swinging vessel that demonstrates the power of magnets and gravity.

Tan Zhi Rui and Chew Yi Jing of Xingnan Primary School took a leaf (and then some) out of Eric Carle’s book The Very Hungry Caterpillar and built a game where players guess the snacks eaten by a caterpillar. Caterpillar Feast won a ScizKid Special Award as well as a Veterans’ Choice Award, in which past award-winners choose their favourite toys from this year’s submissions.

Guests at the ceremony received a model of Hawaiian Sling Glider, a flying wing that won a merit award in 2004. Designed by Maximilian Wallace Tan of Henry Park Primary School, who credited the Survivor TV series and an avid interest in historical aviation for the concept, the toy has now been mass-produced by Sony and distributed to schools.

To reward the truly dazzling ideas, top prize winners at the awards ceremony will be treated to a 5-day trip to Japan, where the itinerary includes visits to the National Science Museum, Sony ExploraScience and Tokyo Disneyland. One can only imagine what other quirky and inventive toy concepts they’ll come up with by the time they get home.

Learn more about the winning Sony Creative Science Award entries at this webpage.