麻豆影院

Brian Jernigan, director of summer STEM programs for , is working to bring science learning to students who can鈥檛 come to class in person: young patients in pediatric hospitals.

That goal was on display May 17 in Mark Appling鈥檚 class at Ryan Elementary School in Lafayette, Colorado. There, third-grader Jaejune Lee played with an unusual toy. A little bigger than an iPad, the game was designed by Jernigan and at CU 麻豆影院 for kids at Children鈥檚 Hospital of Colorado in Aurora. It鈥檚 a Plinko-style toy that uses rolling beads and twisting dials to teach young learners about how water cycles from rivers to clouds and back again.听

And it got Jaejune鈥檚 vote: 鈥淚 thought it was pretty cool,鈥� he said, because of 鈥渉ow we learned how the water cycle works.鈥�

Jaejune and his classmates aren鈥檛 patients themselves. But over the past year, pupils at Ryan Elementary worked with the CU 麻豆影院 group to help develop this toy鈥攂rainstorming ideas and product testing early versions. Jernigan came to class that morning to show the final result of that hard work.

He said that the project convinced him that engineering such resources can be empowering for kids both in and out of the hospital.听

鈥淭hese kids are talking about their experiences. They鈥檙e getting it out in the open,鈥� Jernigan said. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e heard of art therapy, and you鈥檝e heard of music therapy. We鈥檙e looking at design therapy.鈥�

And it鈥檚 been a success. In April, Jernigan delivered the first prototype of the toy, dubbed the 鈥淩ain Game,鈥� to Children鈥檚 Hospital at a ceremony that included an appearance by Miss Colorado. He鈥檚 also partnering with staff at the hospital to hold a workshop where patients can practice designing their own educational and therapeutic toys.

The need for such resources is huge, added Jernigan, who also volunteers at the hospital in his free time. 鈥淚 see how bored these kids are,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nything you bring that is special or engaging is really going to lift their spirits and lift their parents鈥� spirits.鈥�

But that鈥檚 no easy feat. To keep kids safe, Children鈥檚 Hospital follows strict rules for the toys patients can play with: no sharp edges, easy to disinfect, no bright colors or flashing lights that could trigger seizures. That makes designing even a simple educational toy an engineering challenge.

To meet that challenge, Jernigan tapped a group of students in the senior design course in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He gave those students a unique charge: 鈥淚 told them, 鈥業 want the kids to drive your excitement,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淚 want you to spend time with them and really understand the client.鈥�

The work was supported, in part, by a CU 麻豆影院 Outreach Award with assistance from the university鈥檚 Idea Forge and Design Center Colorado.

The students jumped at the chance, paying several visits to Ryan Elementary and a preschool in Broomfield called Bal Swan Children鈥檚 Center. And, Jernigan said, these young focus groups were full of good ideas. An early version of the toy, for example, used silver beads to represent water. One student at Bal Swan had a different idea: why not switch to blue beads?

These visits also showed Jernigan the therapeutic value of the design process. Many of the young students had friends or relatives who had been in the hospital鈥攄esigning a toy helped them to work through their feelings on those struggles. Others were just happy that adults were listening to their ideas and taking them seriously.听

Mark Appling, a science teacher at Ryan Elementary, said that his students enjoyed that responsibility. 鈥淚f you give kids a real problem and a real stake in problem solving,鈥� he said, 鈥渢hey tend to do great things.鈥�

It鈥檚 those great things that drew CU 麻豆影院 student Rachel Sharpe to working with Jernigan. She鈥檚 a junior studying mechanical engineering and two years ago, helped him to hold a science fair, complete with hands-on activities, in the main lobby of Children鈥檚 Hospital.听

Sharpe joined Jernigan in the visit to Ryan Elementary and spent the morning working with students in Appling鈥檚 class, which encourages students to explore their own science and engineering projects. She helped a group of children to cut out figures for a custom board game and chatted with Jaejune Lee and another classmate as they built a cardboard train that transports puzzles.听

When it comes to working with kids, 鈥渨hat鈥檚 exciting is how creative they are,鈥� Sharpe said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e fearless in how they solve problems.鈥�