A-Champs living manual. Product service system design

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PRODUCT SERVICE SYSTEM DESIGN

MATTIA MAESTRELLI

PSSD MASTER THESIS

780701

A.A 2013/2014

RELATOR

MARTA CORUBOLO

POLITECNICO DI MILANO FACOLTA’ DEL DESIGN

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PART ONE

RESEARCH

PART TWO

CONCEPT

PART THREE

PROTOTYPING

PART FOUR

APPENDIX

SHANGHAI PRC

THE ISSUES OF NOWADAYS KIDS THE KILLERS OF FUTURE ADULTS

KIDS AND MOVEMENT

KIDS

KIDS AND DEVICES

CASE STUDIES PERSONAS 8 14 24 30 40 44 48

A-CHAMPS PRODUCT SERVICE SYSTEM

GAME REQUIREMENTS A-CHAMPS LIVING MANUAL CONCEPT

THE 4 ELEMENTS BIG EFFORT GAMES SMALL EFFORT GAMES THE GAME INVENTOR OTHER MANUAL PAGES FURTHER GAME IDEAS FURTHER THEORY IDEAS SYSTEM MAP

SERVICE TOUCHPOINTS THE MONKEY CHARACTER AFTERSERVICE

A-CHAMPS LIVING DIARY

52 64 66 70 74 78 80 81 82 86 88 90 98 102 104 LINKS PARENTS-PLATFORM-KIDS

TANGIBLE OUTCOME OF THE WHOLE SERVICE

STORYBOARD

SYSTEM INTERACTIONS BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS

108 109 110 112 114 Abstract Conclusions ₁₃₄5

Sky Worldwide Export A-Champs brand

Obesity and causation Kids’ physical inactivity A unique opportunity Technology

Who make the kids move ? Which age which activity ? Physical education at school Physical education in Italy Physical education in the U.S. Target 8/9 kids

Kids development Motor development Social development Cognitive development

Movement in a wider educational context

Game: a troyan horse The entering age

Knowledge and capabilities What next ? BIBLIOGRAPHY PAPERS, RESEARCHES AND STUDIES SITOGRAPHY BIBLIOGRAPHY SITOGRAPHY 126 128 130 131 132 A-CHAMPS PHYSICAL TOOLKIT DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION TOOLKIT

TEST REPORT

118 120

126

For research and educationists

What this toolkit is ? What happens ?

For research and educationists Book, booklets and comics for kids Initiatives for kids

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Nowadays kids born submersed in electronics, Their access to electronic devices is lowering down year after year, they grow up and develop together with them, which offer a big help for parents to make their kids spend time safely, playing and watching all kind of stuffs. Why, however kids perceive smartphones as gaming devices ? Is possible to transform electronics from instruments of passive playing to active, involving physical movement in the generated game ?

This is why I designed this product-service system, composed by an app for kids, a living website platform for parents and a physical toolkit to be inserted in the product box to link them with it.

The device used have to let kids discover the importance and the added value of sharing time playing, moving and make activities with friends on the level of reality, not just through video games and apps. And this is gonna be an extremely interesting challenge for me, in this path because using a website, to promote the outside world could look tricky and weird but is important to do it also for their further life: they have to understand that the interaction between technological devices and outdoor activities is possible, is necessary, now and more and more, in the years to come.

This is the aim of A-Champs Living Manual and Living Diary. For kids a way to make the best use of their devices, learning potentials of it while educating themselves about the environment and keeping connected with other mates around the world. For parents a way to be struggled in kids’ involvement in physical activity and mo-vement, one of the most precious resources we are losing nowadays.

I bambini di oggi nascono immersi nell’elet-tronica. Il loro accesso a devices e strumenti elettronici avviene ad un’età sempre più bassa, crescono e si sviluppano con i loro congegni elettronici, e questi offrono ai genitori un grande ausilio se si tratta di impegnare il tempo dei figli in maniera sicura, ma come mai i bambini li per-cepiscono come strumenti di gioco ? Ci sarebbe la possibilità di riuscire a trasformare il device elettronico da strumento di svago passivo a strumento di svago attivo, coinvolgendo l’attività motoria del bambino nel gioco che esso crea ? Questi sono i motivi che mi hanno portato alla progettazione di questo sistema prodotto-servizio, composto da un’app pr bambini, un sito internet per genitori e un toolkit da inserire nella scatola dei prodotti A-Champs.

Anche usando uno smartphone, I bambini de-vono scoprire l’importanza del tempo condiviso giocando, muovendosi e facendo attività nella vita reale, non solo su schermo. E questa sarà una sfida interessante perché utilizzare un’app e un sito internet per promuovere la vita all’aria attiva sembra un ossimoro, ma è importante anche comunicare questo per la vita futura dei ragazzi: capiranno che l’interazione tra la tecno-logia e l’attività è possibile, anzi necessaria ora e negli anni a venire per loro.

Questo è il sistema A-Champs. Per i ragazzi un modo di imparare ad usare al meglio i loro smartphones, imparando il loro potenziale e insieme scoprendo il mondo in condivisione con amici intorno al mondo. Per gli adulti una maniera di stimolarli per far condurre ai loro figli una vita sana e di movimento, una delle risorse più preziose che stiamo facendo scomparire.

Abstract

INDEX

PICTURES

INDEX

GRAPHICS

A-Champs pattern and logo A-Champs differential advantages

In a race to slow down - Designtomove.org Physical education in Europe - Eurydice Different kind of personas

Living manual cover Nourish interactive website Preliminar sketch

Examples of big effort manual games Monkey character

Afterservice

Kids and pedometers Introductive topic pages Big effort games

Examples of small effort games The game inventor

Index pages of the manual Further game ideas images from -Bambini in giardino

-Non c’è tempo per annoiarsi -Invenzioni e inventori -Basta un bastone

-Manuale delle giovani marmotte Further game ideas

Further theory ideas images from -Enciclopedia Dami

-Collana GM Esplora -Il manuale dell’avventura -Invenzioni e inventori -L a biblioteca dei ragazzi Hints

Introductive video page App icon

Registration Login

Profile landing page Monkey character

Monkey customization page Afterservice pages

Website page App and web page Toolkits covers

Big effort prototype games Cover and back of prototype Shoot from prototyping test session Bibliography moodboard

A-Champs product placement Overweight and obesity - IOTF Map “Who make the kids move” Which age, which activity How kids spend their time - IOTF Charts from researches NCGM - COHEN Charts from researches OFCOM - PEW Kids case study

Parents case study Games requirements A-Champs game message Manual game concept Game flow

Afterservice System map

Links parents-platform-kids Tangible outcomes of the service Storyboard

System interactions Business model canvas Prototyping flow 12 15 24 25 37 41 43 44 50 64 65 66 69 70 88 108 109 110 112 114 123 10 11 18 29 49 53 54 54 56 58 59 59 72 76 78 80 81 82 84 86 91 92 93 94 95 97 99 101 102 105 107 119 121 124 125-129 132

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SKY worldwide export

SKY worldwide export is a young and dynamic Shanghai based manufactu-rer of sportswear, sports products and accessories.

Established in 2008 from a german guy, former METRO GROUP manager, works with a small selection of qualified manufacturers, specialized in different production processes, to produce a broad range of products and what is around them, like packagings, manuals and communication tools.

The product line is focused on sports. These are mostly fitness accessories, fun sport items, bags and sporting toys. The company is divided in two main departments: Design and Financing/ Sourcing, both located in the same buil-ding. Is composed by around 15 people, with two german guys, the boss and his brother Product Manager, an internatio-nal design department with a mexican product designer and an indonesian fashion designer who are full employed there, and a range of interns that va-ries from one to five, according to the workflow of the period.

Then there is a garment department, and a merchandising department, com-posed by highly skilled chinese people,

each one of those is expert in a specific, different field.

Their main tasks are the contact with factories and the supervision of the pro-duction, while the german guys are in charge of the sales department, keeping the contacts with the customers, who are mainly european and north-ameri-can.

The company approach is to give the final customer a stable quality at com-petitive prices, using german quality control and a young, fresh international design department in a competitive production environment.

They mainly work with the big distribu-tion and supermarkets, so the biggest flows of work are located in September-November, when there are the big orders for “After Christmas” sport goods acquiring, and in spring, when take pla-ces the orders for the summer season. Then there are some variables in the yearly work schedule, according to the single brands that often require redesi-gns, new packaging or new line for exi-sting products, or to the internal brands: one of those is already developed and sold in Germany, and another one is still under patent and will be available on the market since next year.

SHANGHAI,

POPULAR REPUBLIC OF CHINA

The daily jobs are extremely fast, most of the time a packaging design was re-quired in the morning for the afternoon or maybe two hours for a graphic con-cept or for a redesign. In this part there was no organization or time for a pro-per design desk analysis, just a strong professional trust in 23-25 years old guys, that always attended to the tasks, on time.

Extremely precious was Kilian’s attitu-de: he always stimulated us to travel amongst factories, to understand how the production is, how is the chinese reality and how products take shapes. The design team I worked with was extremely young but well selected by Jorge, 27 from Mexico, in charge of the department. He assembled this various team with me, Alex, 23 german-portu-guese, with high skills about electronics (coming from TUE) and illustrations with the Adobe suite. Then there were a guy and a girl from The Netherlands: Emma, 26 was a mechanical engineer with the task to develop a mechanism for a kids’ toy, and Thomas, 22, able with photography and Photoshop edi-ting and sketching.

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A-Champs brand

Inside this german-shanghainese reality, there is the A-Champ brand, founded and developed by Kilian and Sky worldwide company.

The mission of the brand is to use the skills of Sky worldwide and their wor-kers, to create a broad products line, composed by every kind of artifacts, from industrial products, to textile, clothes, games and whatever can be a product for kids. The particularity of this brand, and what merges together all these different designs is the core value: fighting against an unhealthy lifestyle of kids.

Is clear that the fast change happened to our society, is bringing parents fur-ther from kids activity, gaming and free time. This have to be merged together with the growing, all over the world, of the junk food culture that allows to eat fast during the meals, as well as du-ring snacks, and via advertisement and supermarkets tempts and force people to buy ad consume chemical food, in-stead of sane ingredients, and the rapid diffusion of smartphones and electronic devices, more and more suitable for kids, their needs but also parents’ ones.

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The results of this new society and its values, is the physical inactivity and seating lifestyle of kids, which are more comfortable for parents while staring and fingering a screen, instead running and biking in the streets, which are also become unsafe and overcrowded by cars.

What A-Champ wants to bring is a way to fight this increasing problem, that is not only concerning the kids’ life, which is already a big deal because of the lower life expectancy, lower fun in life, serious life-long health issues (bad blood parameters/damaged bones & joints/key risk factor for most serious illnesses), worse intellectual deve-lopment, social mobbing & less friends, but is also concerning the sustainability of our world and society.

This happens because physical inactivi-ty and all the diseases linked to it brings huge economical issues. The first years of life are the ones which decide your fate and also most of the serious illness of a man’s life, like obesity, diabetes or cancers (if linked to junk food massive use).

The result of a society without move-ment, so can be a society made by

ex-completely inactive children, are incredibly high costs for health cures and research and, why not, a big loss of traditional, healthy and natural food in-gredients for the gaining of big corpora-tions that are selling our children death, packed in shiny attractive colors.

This is why is important to fight this habits since the beginning of a man’s life, and to work on two levels: the first one is the one of kid, that have to be stimulated to move via gaming and activities which are proper for them and the second one is the one of parents, which have to be informed, stimulated as well and sometimes forced to spend more time with their kids in an active way, making them move, play and eat in a sane and correct manner.

The idea beyond A-Champ line is to give the kid a way to make movement and activity, without let him know that is doing that. This goal is achieved only if the product, being it a plastic toy as well as a pair of shoes, is so fantastic and memorable, while making activity out of it, to force and involve the kid to make more and more and more activity with it. Of course, we are not talking about sports products, that the kids decide to buy to make sports, but a product that aims to stimulate every kid, from the sporty to the obese ones, to enjoy it as a game. And to enjoy the game, of course the kid have to move.

If the activity made with the toy is something that helps him learning is a plus, but the unconsciousness of the movement, while gaming, is something that doesn’t make the kid feel bored by the time spent (like could be for exam-ple a soccer ball for anobese guy), nor

make him feel depres- sed in not rea-ching a goal and can stimulate him to do some more activity to compete with the others, understanding that movement and open-air activities are sane, joyful, can help you socialize and improve yourself more than hours passed in front of a device, interacting with it and with people, virtually close, but far away from him.

This is why in the concepts which are developing you can find a broad diffe-rence from the products point of view, but all with the same value and proposal beyond: help the kids to stand up from their couches, leave Iphones to their parents and go, discover, move, play, know, and help the parents to satisfy this needs, keeping them curious and making them know how is nice for their kids to move, and how it is crucial for their present and future life.

FITNESS

TOYS

ACTIVITY

TOYS

A-CHAMPS

TOYS

fitness because

of the fun

Bottom

A-Champs products aim to make the kid move because of the fun, not for duty or for emulation

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THE ISSUES OF NOWADAYS KIDS,

THE KILLERS OF FUTURE ADULTS

Obesity and causation

Childhood obesity is a growing problem, recognized as a serious public health concern due to the rising prevalence in children and its many adverse health ef-fects, that affect population nowadays, especially in countries where the “we-stern lifestyle” doesn’t make any good for fighting it.

The term overweight rather than obese is often used in children as it is less stig-matizing, but we have to make first of all a little clarification: 10% of the world’s school-aged children is overweight, though only 2.5% of them are obese. But what is the difference between the-se two different status ?

We talk about overweight when a human body carries actually more fat that the needed and optimally healthy. Being overweight is a common condi-tion, especially where food supplies are plentiful and lifestyles are sedentary. Obesity in children is a condition where an oversupply of body fat negatively affects a child’s health, wellbeing and even reduces life expectancy. It is most commonly caused by a combination of excessive food energy intake, lack of physical activity, and genetic susceptibi-lity, although a few cases are caused

primarily by genes, endocrine disorders, medications or psychiatric illnesses. Evidence to support the view that some obese people eat little yet gain weight due to a slow metabolism is limited. Researchers surveyed 1,520 children, ages 9–10, with a four-year follow up and discovered a positive correlation between obesity and low self esteem in the four year follow up. They also disco-vered that decreased self-esteem led to 19% of obese children feeling sad, 48% of them feeling bored, and 21% of them feeling nervous. In comparison, 8% of normal weight children felt sad, 42% of them felt bored, and 12% of them felt nervous. Stress can influence a child’s eating habits. Researchers tested the stress inventory of 28 college females and discovered that those who were binge eating had a mean of 29.65 points on the perceived stress scale, compared to the control group who had a mean of 15.19 points. This evidence may demon-strate a link between eating and stress. (Strauss RS, 2000)

As showed by a research by MFMER (Mayo Foundation for Medical Edu-cation and Research), “Emotional or psychological issues are just the first problems to occur in obese children. Childhood obesity can also lead to life-threatening conditions including diabe-tes, high blood pressure, heart diseases, sleep problems, cancer, and other disor-ders. Some of the other disorders would include liver diseases, early puberty or menarche, eating disorders such as ano-rexia and bulimia, skin infections, and asthma and other respiratory problems”. Moreover overweight children are more likely to grow up to be overweight adults and obesity during adolescence has been found to increase mortality rates during adulthood.

0% 10% 20% 30%

WORLDWIDE

AMERICA

EUROPE

OVERWEIGHT OBESE

Bottom

overweight and obesity in school aged children (5-17) in America and in Europe, compared to the world average

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“Social changes in the environment (social development and urbanization) in western countries led to rising levels of obesity”.

(Lobstein-Bur-Uauy, 2004)

For example the increasing use of mo-torized transports, instead walking to school, no recreational physical activi-ty, increased sedentary lifestyle, most of the time for parents’ responsibility which use to find apparently safe ways to fulfill kids days, like watching TV, with its multiple channels around the clock, playing with devices and smartphones or just bringing children with them, during sedentary activities instead make them play in the parks or some sports, with mates.

But the fault of this behavior has to be searched in the environment around us, as well.

“A large problem of an obese environment is that this environment has an effect on the lifestyle patterns (in food consumption and physical activity) of the child. An environment where obesity is becoming normal, where junk foods are advertised all around, and where technology shows new models far away from movement, stimula-tes the child to eat more and be less active. The parents can be a bad role model here, but also advertisement stimulates to eat

unhealthy and children are becoming more sedentary because of watching television and using the computer”. (Cole, 2006)

Moreover, eating at fast food restau-rants is very common among young people with 75% of 7th to 12th grade students consuming fast food in a given week. The fast food industry is also at fault for the rise in childhood obesity. This industry spends about $4.2 bil-lion on advertisements aimed at young children. McDonald’s alone has thirteen websites that are viewed by 365,000 children and 294,000 teenagers each month. In addition, fast food restaurants give out toys in children’s meals, which helps to entice children to buy the fast food. Forty percent of children ask their parents to take them to fast food restau-rants on a daily basis. (French-Story, 2001)

Children who are obese are likely to be obese as adults. Thus, they are more at risk for adult health problems such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer, and osteoarthri-tis. One study showed that children who became obese as early as age 2 were more likely to be obese as adults (cdc. gov). According to an article in the New York Times all of these health effects are

contributing to a shorter lifespan of five years for these obese children.

Diet, physical activity and (familiar) social environment are well-established factors obesity in children can and have to be brought on by.

Kids’ physical inactivity

According to a new study, for the first time in the history in the developed world, this generation of children is ex-pected to die five years earlier than their parents.

The reason? Inactivity.

Recent research conducted by Nike and made public at

Designedtomove.org found that in just two generations, the rate of active play, physical education and overall physical

activity has dropped by 20% in the U.K., 32% in the U.S., and 45% in China. This year, says the report, 5.3 million deaths will be attributed to physical inactivity while smoking, long considered a lea-ding killer, is responsible for 5 million deaths a year.

Today’s 10 year olds are the first

generation expected to have a shorter

life expectancy than their parents

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Recent researches demonstrates the magnitude of the world’s shift toward physical inactivity.

The findings are alarming. In just 44 years (approximately 1.5 generations), physical activity in the United States has declined 32 percent and is on track for a 46 percent drop by 2030.

The United Kingdom became 20 per-cent less physically active in the same amount of time and is trending toward a 35 percent decline by 2030. Not surpri-singly, this research shows stark decli-nes in the amount of time individuals spend being physically active in work, home and, with the exception of the U.K., transport for all countries.

However, the drops are far more drama-tic in highly developed countries. The evidence suggests this is an unintended byproduct of innovation and economic progress.

Vehicles, machines and technology are now available to complete the tasks that once required physical effort. As economies grow, physical activity is systematically designed, innovated and engineered out of daily life.

The research also suggests that the ef-fects of declining physical activity levels

may be felt more acutely in countries with rapidly developing economies. For example, Mainland China’s 1.3 billion citizens are becoming less physically active, at a higher rate, than any other nation: in less than a generation (only 18 years) physical activity declined by 45 percent. Brazilians’ physical activity dropped 6 percent in just five years and by 2030, the decline will be more than 34 percent less than half the time it is projected to take in the United Kingdom. (U.S. Department of health)

Russia presents an interesting case because the overwhelming majority of the country’s physical activity decli-ne has occurred in the transportation realm. In just 16 years, active transport has been cut in half. If current trends continue, the country is tracking toward a stunning 97 percent drop by 2030. One likely cause is the rapid uptake in car ownership, which is widely reported to be among the fastest growing in the world. This decline in physical activity is of particular concern. (Rogers,2009) Emerging economies have not had suf-ficient time in their social and economic development to establish the levels of health care and social infrastructure

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necessary to handle the massive, inevi-table consequences. In addition, these countries have not yet established broad-based fitness cultures to help offset the problems to come. (Tudor-Locke, 2003)

“Knowledge of the consequences of physi-cal inactivity has been emerging for years. For example, between 1994 and 2008 in the united Kingdom, the prevalence of obe-sity increased by 79 percent in men and 47 percent in women. Among British children ages 2-10, obesity increased by 56 percent. Physical inactivity is a major risk factor for all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, stroke, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, colon cancer, breast cancer, and depression”. (Scarborough,

2010)

A recent study published in The Lancet estimates that physical inactivity is a major risk factor for all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, high blood pres-sure, stroke, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, colon cancer, breast cancer, and depression. Moreover is responsible for 6 percent of coronary heart disease, 7 percent of type 2 diabetes, and 10 percent of breast and colon cancers. (Lee I. - Shiroma E., 2012)

A unique Opportunity: The first Ten years of life

Physical inactivity as a child could result in physical inactivity as an adult. In the Design to Move report analysis there are, again interesting surveys. In a fitness survey of 6,000 adults, resear-chers discovered that 25% of those who were considered active at ages 14 to 19 were also active adults, compared to 2% of those who were inactive at ages 14 to 19, who were now said to be active adults. (Giedd, 2003)

Nature made children perpetual motion machines for a reason. As they head into adolescence, children draw the blueprints for their adult lives. Not just their adult bodies, but their adult intel-lect, character, emotional resilience and social skills.

Their preferences and motivations—for physical activity or anything else—form during this key developmental phase. The period between infancy and adole-scence also represents the time when the most fundamental motor skills are developed. These are critical and foundational movement skills that must be developed during this phase as they act as the building blocks of all later physical activity.(Okely, 2001)

Dr. Jay Giedd, a prominent neuroscien-tist working in this area of brain rese-arch, hypothesizes about the implica-tions of this work in an interview with the American news program, “Fron-tline.” In it, he said, “If a teen is doing music or sports or academics, those are the cells and connections that will be hardwired. If they’re lying on the couch or playing video games or MTV, those are the cells and connections that are going to survive.”(Giedd, 2003) While it is important for everyone to be physically active, the reality of this unique phase of development is what makes an emphasis on a physically acti-ve pre- and early adolescence so criti-cal. This very young population has the best chance to break or prevent cycles of physical inactivity and create a new, more sustainable way of life.

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Technology

theguardian.com/sustainable-business/technology-inactive-lifestyle-changing-children

The evolution of technology has reached a point where pretty much anything is available at the touch of a button. Shop-ping, learning, working and entertainment can all be accessed from the comfort of our own homes, on a train or sat in a cafe. But it’s coming at a price; and a relatively cru-cial one at that. Health. And as technology changes the way we live, those who will suffer most will be our children.

Recently two studies emerged in the media that really hit home just how inactive children are becoming and the role techno-logy may be playing.

The first, a UK study of 6,500 children aged seven to eight, found that only 51% achieved the recommended hour of physi-cal activity each day, with girls (38%) pro-ving to be far less active than boys (63%). The second study revealed that the average British child gets their first mobile phone aged around 12, but nearly one in 10 has one by the age of five. Yes, five. It begs the question; do these two issues come hand in hand? As children are given mobile devices for communi cating, playing games and watching TV programmes at an earlier and earlier age, is the result that they become

less active?

Although these studies are UK specific, they are just the tip of a very large iceberg. For instance, in the US, only 29% of high school studentshad participated in at least 60 minutes of physical activity on each of the seven days before the survey. Similarly, a 2008 study in Spain found that just 48% of six to 18 years old did at least 60 minu-tes of physical activity per day. The same research highlighted that 49% of girls and 37% of boys in Spain did not do any sports in their free time.

Statistics such as these warrant attention and action. It’s during childhood when habits are ingrained and the freedom exists for active play and movement. The worry is, participation in physical activity usual-ly declines as young people get older. If inactivity figures are currently as high as these in children, what hope do they have as adults?

In 2008, around 31% of adults worldwide aged 15 and over were insufficiently active; again, women more so than men (34% versus 28%). But as these figures were released over five years ago, they’re likely to now be far higher, especially considering the statistics emerging on inactivity in children.

The world is slowing down, but as a result, the number of people who develop long-term conditions is increasing, as are carbon emissions that accompany a sedentary lifestyle. Physical inactivity is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide and approximately 3.2 million deaths each year are attributable to insufficient physical activity. The only way we can start to bring this number down substantially is to focus on education and active encouragement in children. They are our future and targeted efforts need to be focused far more here.

Dr Paul Zollinger-Read, chief medical officer, Bupa

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KIDS AND

MOVEMENT

Who make the kids move ?

BOY SCOUTS

CHURCHES

PLAYGROUNDS

SCHOOLS

YOUTH

ASSOCIATIONS

SPORT

SCHOOLS

PEERS

FAMILY

ACTIVITIES

SCHOOL

SUMMER

ASSOCIATIONS

SUMMER

CAMPS

URBAN/PARK

GAMES

REUSE/CONVERSION

OF SPACES

LANGUAGE/EXCHANGE

ASSOCIATIONS

PRIVATE

ASSOCIATIONS

MUNICIPALITY

ASSOCIATIONS

WEBSITES

TIPS

ONLUS

TV SHOWS

Here is where the sedentary of kids is stopped

Kids direct environment

Italy Europe Worldwide

KIDS

24

Which age ? Which activity ?

Clear guidelines are developed for what is concerning kids and their requirement for exercise and activities.

There are different kinds of moderate to vigorous physical ac-tivities school aged children can and have to participate in. Are divided in 4 big groups, can be played alone, as well as in group and most of them involve one of the other, in the meanwhile.

Source: Holecko - Shara - Physical Activity For All Ages

TEAM

Playing tag Basketball, Volleyball Martial arts Tennis Soccer Hockey Frisbee Hiking Gymnastics Volleyball Basketball Tennis Rope, rock or tree

climbing

Running or rowing Push-ups, pull-ups or sit-ups

Working out with weights Tug of war Yoga Martial arts Dance Gymnastics Skateboarding Running, jogging Dancing to music Jumping rope Biking Gymnastics, aerobics Swimming Balancing

AEROBIC

ACTIVITY

1 HOUR/DAY MUSCLE STRENGHTENING 3 TIMES A WEEK BONES STRENGHTENING 3 TIMES A WEEK

STRETCHES

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Physical education at school

Physical education develops physical competence so that all children can move efficiently, effectively and safely and under-stand what they are doing. The outcome, physical literacy, is an essential basis for their full development and achievement. Physical education in school is the most effective and inclusive means of providing all children, whatever their ability/disabili-ty, sex, age,

cultural, race/ethnic, religious or social background, with the skills, values, attitudes, knowledge for lifelong participation in physical

activity and sport. (treccani.it)

It is the only school subject whose pri-mary focus is on the body, physical ac-tivity, physical development and health to help children to develop the patterns of and interest in physical activity, which are essential for healthy development and which lay the foundations for adult

healthy lifestyles. It contributes to children’s confidence and self esteem; enhances social development by prepa-ring children to cope with competition, winning and losing; and cooperation and collaboration. It is increasingly being used as a tool in development, including recovery from trauma and conflict; and encouragement for school attendance and retention.

Contemporary physical education has an eclectic background, merging to-gether last two centuries’ discipline contamination: military conception, from Obermann and Prussia, hygienistic conception from Baumann and Sweden, french psychomotricity, sport founding conceptions, from England and their sporty culture, and the naturalistic ones,

The decline in physical activity is of particular concern.

Emerging economies have not had sufficient time in

their social and economic development to establish the

levels of health care and social infrastructure necessary

to handle the massive, inevitable consequences.

In addition, these countries have not yet established

broad- based fitness cultures to help offset the

problems to come.

Nike research

from Hébert and the scout movement. European countries adopt different ap-proaches to the development of strate-gies for promoting physical education and physical activity. Established na-tional strategies are often based on the results of previous ones, or on projects or research findings in the field of physi-cal education. They may also result from a consultation process involving various stakeholders, such as specialised bodies or experts in the sports sector.

Strategies in place do not always specify concrete actions. However, they indicate directions and areas in which changes and improvements are needed. They thus anticipate the development and implementation of concrete measures or action in particular areas. (European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2013) Strategies may concentrate on physical education in schools, or more broadly target society as a whole, with measu-res aimed specifically at schoolchildren at the same time. A strategy often provides an overall framework for the development of physical education and physical activity. Concrete action is then either directly referred to in the strategy or developed later, in accordance with

its general aims.

The aims of national strategies may vary from one country to another, in line with ongoing political, economic and social priorities. The most frequently reported aims are those of increasing the number of young people who take part in sports activities, raising awareness of the value of physical education, developing posi-tive attitudes to physical activities, and motivating young people to take part in them throughout their lives.

Many strategies thus refer to the role of physical activity and sport in promoting health and healthy lifestyles, as well as their broader contribution to physi-cal, personal and social development. (Eurydice Report Luxembourg, 2012)

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Physical education in Italy

In Italy physical education is a school topic since 1946. The ministry of public interaction take care of it and, in synergy with CONI, founded in 1947 a special office, called “Ispettorato per l’educazio-ne fisica”.

In 1982 the teaching program was renewed, considering contemporary issues and the idea that this subject, in the school context, has to form young people also in the plan of social matters. The objectives were so underlined as: - Physic empowerment

- Integration and building of motor schemes

- Strenghten the disposition - Social and civic development

- Acquiring of a sport and movement culture, that promotes physical move-ment as lifestyle

- Discovering and orientation of perso-nal attitudes in sports

This picture is unfortunately different from the status quo: cinderella of the whole education system, is considered only for its recreative function, instead than the importance for helping deve-lopment of fundamental traits of perso

nality.

Medicians are in alarm and are asking schools to make the physical educa-tion pervasive, as approach to sports, lifestyle, classroom behaviors. It should involve, from their point of view, families and food education of the kids.

After this, Sport ministry, CONI and MIUR, started a big work together, to put the basis for formative offer empo-werment, to fight dispersion and under-statement of this topic.

In this direction there is a proposal to keep schools open during afternoon to dedicate this to the use of gyms, for minimum amount of movement and to set up back “Youth games”, big link between schools, sports and movement in the past decades.

(indire.it, 2013)

(corriere.it-scuola, 2013)

Physical education in U.S.

IcSSPE reaffirms the 1978 uNEScO International charter on Physical Educa-tion and Sport and the Berlin Agenda for Governments, agreed at the 1st World Summit on Physical Education in 1999 in Berlin, and endorsed by the decla-ration of Punta del Este at MINEPS III in the same year, which calls on go-vernments’ commitment to implement policies for physical education, recogni-se that good quality physical education depends on well qualified educators and scheduled time within the curriculum and invest in initial and in-service pro-fessional training and development for educators

For children and adolescents (aged 6 - 17), the US government set up a few guidelines for physical activities:

- They should do 1 hour or more of daily physical activity

- Most of the hour or more a day should be moderate to vigorous aerobic physi-cal activity

- As part of their daily physical activity, they should do vigorous physical acti-vities on at least 3 days per week. They also should do muscle strengthening activity on at least 3 days per week (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008 Physical Activity Guide-lines for Americans)

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Target: 8/9 years kids

The target group that is given by the company for the A-Champ brand is children aged approximately 7 - 10. This is the age group included within the primary school age group, often referred to as school-aged children. It is a very wide group to trigger, especially when it comes to children, because at early ages children develop their skills fast. This causes them to like different things at different ages.

Although children develop through a generally predictable sequence of steps and milestones, they may not proceed through these steps in the same way or at the same time. A child’s development is also greatly influenced by factors in his or her environment and the expe-riences he or she has. However, this age range, which goes broadly from 6 to 12 years old, is the one which characterize most the kids transforming him, at the end of this period, from a childish kid, to a teenager. It is the period where are casted inside him all his convictions, knowledge and willing to explore, learn and analyze the world around him. (Kidspot Team, 2012)

There are many changings that affect

KIDS

kids to evolve, but during this age group, the kids will enjoy many activities and stays busy, acquiring with time a higher grace with movements and abilities. They start to like personal crafts and interests like paint, draw, ride a bike, jump, with a rope as by themselves, they practice skills in order to become better, and they will arrive to use adults’ tools (like hammers, screwdrivers) for their personal works and passions. They will also start to build visions, as sharp as adults’ ones.

As children enter into school-age, their abilities and understanding of concepts and the world around them continue to grow.

Even here we’ll have different rates for reaching abilities, but there are some common milestones where kids will arrive: they’ll understand the concept of numbers, till counting backwards and to high amounts, they will know dayti-me and nighttidayti-me and their properties, know the date, right and left hands. They will also get to the copy of com-plex shape, to the concept of space and time, understand commands with three separate instructions. They will start a relationship with objects, knowing how to explain them and getting to the desire

of collecting and customizing, they can read age-appropriate books and mate-rials, enjoying reading as well as writing. (Kidspot Team, 2012)

A very important part of growing up is the ability to interact and socialize with others. During the school-age years, there will be a transition in kids as they move from playing alone to having mul-tiple friends and social groups. While friendships become more important, the child is still fond of his or her parents and likes being part of a family. While every child is unique and will develop different personalities, there are some common behavioral traits that may be present in general: they want and need cooperation and sharing, they like and enjoy competitions and games even if jealous of others and sibling, friends are becoming more and more important and they may have a best one. They en-joy talking to others, modest about body and start to mix play and games with children of opposite gender.

In the report ‘A CRITICAL WINDOW: The First Ten Years of Life’ (DesignedTo-Move.org), an organization that wants to motivate children in physical activity, it is stated that children before that

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age of 10 should be most stimulated to become more active. Children who start being active before this age have better developed motor skills, which positively impact the physical activity experiences they’ll have as they get older.

Kids development

The specific target for the project is fixed in kids from 7-8 years to 9. This age is the best one for our purpose, because is an age when kids are chal-lenging themselves in learning and play alone, but parents are the milestone they are looking at. This is the good age to create, with a game approach, stimu-la for moving and understand the world around them for the rest of their life. Is also the perfect age for them to build and collect a tool that can be shared, customized and kept for the future, with a low impact on parents (kids don’t want, at this age, to involve always pa-rents in their games).

Is interesting to understand which ones are the mechanisms of kids’ evolution in this years of fast development, from all perspective. To cluster those mechani-sms, experts are referred to a sort made

in three different groups we are going to understand deeply:

- Physical and motor development - Social development

- Cognitive and intellectual development Dan Acuff, in his book What kids buy and

why, 2000, assures that in these age

group a very important shift in deve-lopment is within the brain, because from the age of 7 - 8, children will start to develop the left part of the brain more. This means they start to develop a better sense for intellect, logic and reasoning. Math and analytical activity will have an important role in this stage, creating a better feeling for language and numbers. Catharine Fishel adds they can bring their own information to a design to permit a complex interactive experience. Knowing what is “right” lets them enjoy this that are “wrong”. (Fi-shel, 2011)

Eight-year-olds enjoy having the oppor-tunity to solve problems independently. They are able to concentrate on tasks for longer periods of time and begin to use their own resources prior to seeking adult help or they may seek out peers for assistance. Eight-year-olds demon-strate more highly-developed

thinking skills as well as the ability to solve problems with creative strategies. (http://www.pbs.org/parents/childde-velopmenttracker) They are continuing to establish their individual interests and preferences, which are shaped by their unique personalities as well as experiences,and are likely to be conti-nuing to develop skills in activities they love, whether it’s soccer, chess, music, art, or a myriad of other hobbies and interests. (http://childparenting.about. com/od/schoollearning/a/8-Year-Old-Child-Cognitive-Development.htm) They are building upon the abilities they have been developing both cognitively and physically.

Which ones are these abilities ?

Motor development

Physically, this is the age when the amount of practice and play done in the earlier years begins to manifest itself in skillfulness and in what might be called “athleticism.” Motor skills like throwing, catching, kicking, balancing, rolling and batting approach the mature stage and allow some youngsters to be highly suc-cessful in traditional sports like baseball, soccer and basketball.

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Earlier years of practice also provide the foundation for success in sports like ski-ing, skatski-ing, golf, dance and gymnastics. This year is also the time when children frequently begin to identify themselves as “athletic” or “unathletic,” thereby influencing their future involvement in sports and physical activity.

Furthermore kids:

- begin to be capable of playing games with small pieces or buttons

- are active, but still need rest

- can appreciate design alone or quietly fit it well into their lives

- perseverance gets a great boost. - need just fast recovery after intensive activity

- Power increases

- Can handle a ball and being able to catch a throw large and small balls/ objects with and without bouncing - Are mastering waving, jumping, rolling, somersaulting, balancing, walk-jumping, climbing and sprinting

- Can combine locomotor and motor skills better (turn,spin and jump, for example as seen in basketball); - Finger control is quite refined

- Stamina increases; can run and swim further

is important to underline that children’s actual skill levels will vary based on their amount of physical activity. Sedentary children will not mature as quickly as those who participate in activities like dance lessons, team sports or backyard play.

(created withe the support of Dott.ssa Adria Corradi, educationist -

http://www.greatschools.org/special-education/ health/903-developmental-milestones-your-8-year-old-child.gs)

Social development

When interacting with others, eight-year-olds enjoy sharing their viewpoints on a variety of topics. This is the time of relationship creation with the others, in an aware way, and of constructive agonism.

They have a clearly developed sense of self-worth and may express frustra-tion in response to activities that they perceive as areas of personal weakness. Eight-year-olds begin to understand the concept of masking emotions and can vary their use of coping strategies to deal with challenging situations.

Furthermore they : - Are good team players - Start to enjoy risks

- Develop sense for game rules and guidelines. They know the rules and are willing to respect them

- Create customized design and perso-nalization is popular

- Are very interested in friendship and doing activities together

- Have strong need for love and under-standing, especially from mother - May be quite sensitive and overly dramatic

- Change quickly emotions in a ongoing way

- Favor group play, clubs, and team sports; wants to feel part of a group - More influenced by peer pressure - Have a strong need to “belong.” - Seek to understand the reasons for things

- Think in an organized and logical way, they always look for new “whys” and, of course, new answers

(created withe the support of Dott.ssa Adria Corradi, educationist -

Cognitive development

First of all, children at this stage are becoming better readers. They select and combine skills and strategies to read fluently with meaning and pur-pose. They apply comprehension and vocabulary strategies to a wider variety of texts and are better able to check on and improve their comprehension as needed. Their fundamental reading skills are established and one function of rea-ding becomes its use for learning about various topics. They read for pleasure and choose books based on personal preference, topic or author.

At the same time, children’s writing skills continue to develop. It is also the time for critical thinking development, in a subsequence of hypothesis and experimentation.

In mathematics, eight-year-olds can count to “1,000” and gauge the relative proximity of three- and four-digit num-bers to one another. They are able to apply a host of strategies when solving problems with three-digit numbers or less.

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- Eight-year-old children may become interested in a particular subject or in-terest and delight in learning everything they can about it.

- Obsession with a game, sport, or hob-by is common among this age children. - They are experimenting with different shades of colours

- Children this age show greater con-centration and sophistication in playing different characters and can draw from a variety of sources to improvise dialo-gue and tell stories.

- They can create storyboards and cle-arly understand the sequence of events, in time.

- They can understand simple instruc-tions with pictures

- Can count in new ways (by fives,tens,etc.)

- Working with money and time beco-mes easier

- There is more awareness regarding theme that need it (like money saving or spending)

- Being timed starts to be a possible part of the game

- Design can contain more extreme colours and graphics

Eight-year-old children are increasingly expressing interest in making their

own decisions about their meals and snacks. While younger children certainly may express dislike for certain foods or preferences for others. Peer pressure can also come into play as 8-year-old children see what food choices their friends make; if many of their friends eat junk food and soda, an 8-year-old child may want to follow their example. Body image issues can arise in some children at this age. The important thing is to remember that 9-year-old children are still influenced by their parents’ attitude toward physical activity and body image. When parents make physi-cal fitness, healthy food, and positive attitudes about weight and body image a priority, they set a good example for their children to follow.

Nine/Ten-year-old children are on the brink of adolescence. In the next few years, they will experience significant changes in physical development as they enter puberty and their preteen years. Nine-year-old children can vary greatly in size. At this age xperience a growth spurt, getting taller and gaining more weight. Some children may be tal-ler or shorter than others. You can also expect to see some differences in body

shapes, with some children being natu-rally stockier or skinnier than others. (created withe the support of Dott.ssa Adria Corradi, educationist -

PIAGET’S THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Jean Piaget was a psychologist and philosopher known for his studies with children. He finds the concrete stage a very impor-tant turning point in the child’s cognitive development, because it marks the beginning of logical or operational thought:

“Children in the concrete operational stage are typically ages 7 to 11. They gain the abilities of conservation (number, area, volume, orien-tation) and reversibility. Their thinking is more organized and rational. They can solve problems in a logical fashion, but are typically not able to think abstractly or hypothetically”

Right

the graphic shows how school age kids (5-17) spend their time while not at school or studying source IOTF

Tv, radio, music computer

34%

Contact with family and friends

25% Games 13% Reading 3% Museum, theatre library etc. 4% Hanging 9% Sport 9% Walking, cycling 3%

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Movement in a wider educational context

In his book “Poter giocare” (Società Stampa Sportiva, Roma 1993) Antonio Borgogni assures that “The psycho-motor

education can’t be by herself a teaching topic, because it express the discovery (or better, its application) of the constant re-lationship between the man-body that set his movement in the reality, and between the man-mind that evolves intellectually, better knowing they reality. Reality is not a blurred data, but a net of emotionally connected signals”.

He also says that “this reality is set up as

an element characterized by four possibili-ties: to receive signals, to link them toge-ther, to understand them and to compare them with personal needs.

Is crucial to refer its growing and evolu-tion not to motor activities for their end in themselves, but to educational projects that use movement as analytical element for skills , because it is center of commu-nicative experience and of psychological customization process of the kid, protago-nist of his evolution”.

It is immediately clear the importance to assume as reference in the evaluation of these four steps not only the

movement perspective, but the entire educational context. There should be a least common denominator on coheren-ce, a background that can link together different educational aspects, with the same aim: let the kid learn, not only the movement but also the why, what for and how to best use movement out of it. He goes on telling that “there is obviously

an educational process, and movement activities, designed, developed and verified following the global idea, is basic part of the process. This is the idea of psycho-motor”

After this is clear that talking about learning, in general, make sense if we immediately think about interdisciplina-ry matters, traversal planning, or rather a group of different interventions, with the aim of an unique, whole final goal. This is the first step where start from: movements and motor activity is and have to be always part of a broad dra-wing, a bigger educational speech and involve kids to move, not for just making steps or moving, but to highlight and foster the other points, giving the kid a learning tool, that enhances his move-ments.

Game: a troyan horse

Daniel Zylberberg, vice-president of Federation National Natation Prescolaire Paris, and also psychologist watchful for childhood problems, assures that “there is no toy that can replace game”.

The kid starts to play games whale in-side baby bump and will do it forever. A huger number of works and topics were done and written about game, its cogni-tive functions and its been vehicle for exploration, but adults’ attitude regar-ding it tend to highlight the fun part. For the child, instead, is a serious thing, that requires extreme attention and focus. Of course, to have fun !!

It is for him the most natural and un-timely motor experience. Movement is associated to the game, and is what makes it possible and doable by the kid. J. Piaget describes accurately (“Lo sviluppo mentale del bambino” - Nuova Italia Editrice) the different phases in a kid gameplay, from imitation of rules to first trials, to infinite possibilities. In eve-ry phase there is movement, is crucial and is what allow kids to play and

overcome the step.

Some years ago, there was who assu-red that (Massimo Davi - Un cavallo di Troia, il gioco) “if Piaget said that there is

no game without movement, there could be movement without game”.

Sadly times are changed, technology is now everywhere and this postulate is extremely ephemeral: now game without movement is the normality. Kids approaches their devices, phones, computers, consoles earlier and ear-lier. Internet more than that, is offering free games that, even if some of them educational, are bringing kids to seden-tary lifestyle, and to rewrite down the law of movement: there is game without movement and it is cool !! This seems to be the new rule.

In this scenario, will be interesting and fruitful to have, paraphrasing Davi, a Trojan Horse, to involve kids in move-ment, learning and having fun, keeping them inside a game, that is what kids need to approach the world, discover it and grow up.

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KID DEVICE RELATIONSHIP

What is the relationship between kids and digital devices ? How is it spreading and which are kids capability in their use today ? And tomorrow ? Is there the possibility to create a system to use the potential of smartphones and devices to teach kids good values and activities ? In this study I’ve collected datas, words and studies of some of the world most influent field researchers to understand how further can this trend arrive.

Is immediately clear that devices are spreading families at speed of light and, as a reflection, on kids that demonstra-te high capabilities and curiosity with touch screen interaction since first years of age.

The entering age

The report Net Children Go Mobile (Mascheroni - Olaffson 2014) gives a precise focus on the access and use of mobile convergent media among children aged 9-16. Based on a survey that involved 2000 children in the age range who are internet users and their parents in Denmark, Italy, Romania and the UK and random stratified survey sampling of some 500 children who use the internet per country, demonstrate that “the ways through and the locations

from which children go online are diver-sifying, and this trend is continuing. In-deed, the increasing diffusion of portable devices and convergent mobile media may actually expand the range of places and social situations where children access the internet, fostering the so-called ubiquitous inter-netting”.

The same research, shows that “the

average age when children start using the internet is dropping, with younger children starting to use the internet at a younger age”.

The graphic kept from the report shows that the average age of first using of the internet is decreasing rapidly even amongst kids of the same genera-tion. They also asked children how old they were given a mobile phone and a smartphone and the data that result here is that “children across Europe start

using the internet before they are given a mobile phone”.

This means that as soon as kids recei-ve smartphones, in an age range that is lowering down year after year, they already perceive the internet as a funda-mental part of it, and can use smartpho-nes sharing and connection potential since their first time.

Bottom left

chart from Cohen’s research regarding today kids capabilities in the use of devices, divided by age range.

Knowledge and capabilities

A research made by Michael Cohen for the U.S. Department of Education Ready to Learn Program regarding the capabilities of using tablets and smartphones by kids from 3 to 8 (2013), highlights that

“touch screen technology and accom-panying digital Apps offer an accessible and meaningful media platform for children as young as two years of age” and “the risk

of frustration and boredom ishigh unless game challenge is sustained through leve-ling”.

The scheme taken from his research shows the potential that kids in exami-ned age range have, while first interfa-cing to smartphones as own object, full time available, considering the capabi-lities that could develop passing from novice to master.

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The research made by Ofcom in 2013 with the aim to investigate children’s use, knowledge and understanding of media, in comparison to parents’ and children’s concerns and attitude, gives some interesting feed about the sprea-ding of tablets and devices nowadays, as source of internet service, more unlinked from the static space of the computer.

It reports that “while four in five children

(81%) go online at home through a PC, laptop or netbook, a quarter go online via a mobile phone (27%) or a tablet compu-ter (23%), one in six go online via a fixed or portable games console/ games player (17%), and one in ten through a portable media player like an iPod Touch (9%). The incidence of children going online through any of these devices increases with age”

and also that “compared to 2012 there has

been an overall increase in the incidence of children aged 5-15 going online via a mobi-le phone (27% vs. 22%), due to increases for children aged 8-11 (18% vs. 12%), even if boys aged 8-11 are more likely than girls of this age to ever access the internet at home via a fixed or portable games conso-le/games player (25% vs. 14%)”

Moreover it assures that “use of a tablet

computer for gaming has increased since 2012 among all 5-15 year olds (23% vs. 7%) and among each of the age groups (23% vs. 6% for 5-7s, 26% vs. 8% for 8-11s, 19% vs. 8% for 12-15s)”.

According to the report Pew Internet’s report, Teens and Technology 2013, based on Zact 2013 Mobile Families Survey, 44% of U.S. kids aged 12-17 are using smartphones in 2013. It expects that number to grow to 51% in 2014, 59% in 2015, 66% in 2016, and 73% in 2017.

Previous page Right

charts from NCGM with datas about approaches to internet and phones of kids and about their usage of media and devices, in general

Next page Top left

a scheme by Ofcom research that shows the use of devices by children

Bottom left

a scheme by Ofcom that shows devices used for gaming Bottom right

forecasting about the expected growing of smartphones

What next ?

If we consider also technological advan-cement that will lead in the next years 300 million smartphones to the hands of kids just for parents’ replacement of it (Gass - Kliman speech in Digikids Conference, New York 2014), we can assure that we are heading towards the direction of a huge spreading, year after year, of smartphones and devices in the researched age range, made of kids that will be more and more capable of

understanding the value and the poten-tial of technology they have in the han-ds. Technology that should be however teached them, in order to make them perceive device as a whole platform of shared resources, not just a way to sha-re socials, moments or pictusha-res.