The Toy Surgeon’s Handbook

Research for this project found a pattern of inaccessibility in sustainable toy and play solutions that often limit their impact. Consequently, the challenge was to design a new and accessible way to revalue toy waste.

The elements in this structure aim to introduce children to adult toy hobbyist communities in a way that is accessible and approachable, and presents a variety of activities that appeal to children with varying interests and skillsets.

The Toy Surgeon’s Handbook lists tools that users can find at home, tutorials on common repairs, amputation and modifications.

The Toy Surgeon’s Vice

The Toy Surgeon’s Vice aids users with deconstruction and modification tasks and helps reduce injuries to the hands. It comes with two pairs of interchangable magnetic grips: one firm and flat, the other soft and flexible with a slightly tacky surface for better hold on smooth plastic bodies.

The Toy Surgeon Society

The Toy Surgeon Society is an instagram platform that acts as a central meeting ground for all toy hobbyists. The account posts weekly prompts, resources and features different creators from across the community.

Undo-Replay : The Game of Wacky Reuse

The Undo-Replay tabletop game utilises dismembered toy parts as playing pieces in a competitive tabletop game, where players create humourous “franken-toy” characters and narratives. It incorporates a variety of activities designed to appeal to children with different interests and skill sets based on divisions in the adult hobbyist community. The Player’s Manual encourages scavenging of spare and waste objects to fill the game boxes, like buttons, beads and scrap fabric. A whiteboard is included for narrative based prompts, and five colours of sticky tack. The wool felt base is used as a pin board of collected items when in storage.

Undo-Replay diverts toys from entering waste streams by intervening in the home. The project rescripts a hobby as a pro-environmental action based in repair, repurposing and parts harvesting. The structure intentionally places children in control of creating their own transferences of value, to strengthen sentimental bonds as they transform from user to creator of the object. By focusing on facilitating highly accessible activities, Undo-Replay allows any child to participate in practical sustainability.

The Undo-Replay tabletop game was evaluated with participants ranging in age from six to sixty, who all found it engaging, enjoyable and simple to learn despite some having initial hesitations about their creative ability. The combination of character and narrative-building prompts saw adults actively engage in a form of play that is typically outgrown by adolescence.

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Blooming Isles