Limbo Of Life - Ideas Collective
I took part in the Ideas Collective run by STAND (an initiative run under Irish Aid) from June-September 2022 in which I learned and enhanced numerous skills and met some wonderful likeminded change makers.
Research
The research process for this project was intense as we wanted to try make a real impact. When my team first formed we took time to get to know each other and our needs/other priorities to better understand ourselves and encourage wellbeing within our group as we had formed on the basis that we were all passionate about mental wellbeing. (A lot of our collaborative work was done online through Miro & Zoom & shared documents due to different living situations and the inability to meet in person often.)
After the forming & norming process we immediately got to work zoning in on what sustainability development goals we wanted to work around - good health and wellbeing (SDG 3), quality education (SDG 4) and gender equality (SDG 5). After much discussion we decided our mission was to improve primary school children's wellbeing using our combined educational backgrounds in product design, computer engineering & psychology.
From there we pin pointed many specific areas surrounding children's mental health and illness and it's contributing factors which massively helped in finalising our 'How Might We' question.
After doing plentiful secondary research on various global issues and the benefits of social emotional learning and existing resources (which just consisted of informative websites aimed towards parental advice), alongside our own experience of primary schools and various mental health resources & organisations, as well as informally conversing with students about their experience with their own mental health and struggles as well as their opinions on mental health education, we interviewed dozens of people including parents, caregivers, primary school teachers, counsellors & primary school children in order to gather valuable first hand insights from our stakeholders.
Example of one of our survey questions
We analysed the data from an anonymous survey we conducted and found that the majority of caregivers and teachers seemed to agree with our vision that the majority of Irish schools, and the entire Irish society, value intellect over emotions, and that the opposite instead equips children with life skills early on, that would benefit not only their own life but also the whole society. Therefore we needed a solution that begins in childhood, to prevent mental health issues and to build global citizens. However, based on the data both parents and teachers report not having time or resources to make a change in this area. Therefore, instead of placing pressure completely on parents or on teachers, and being aware of our limited means, we had to find a solution that makes children the main characters.
Design Thinking
We allowed ourselves to dream big when ideating our outcome and then used a realist approach to narrow in on potential ideas to take forward into the concept phase.
Throughout our design journey, we kept thinking about how we could provide a new innovative solution that adds to the resources already out there and that makes a difference. Finally we knew we had to focus on a solution that could inform and encourage social emotional learning skills for children through an interface they could use by themselves (with guidance recommended) in order to eliminate pressure on teachers & caregivers to teach children these things and encourage peer learning and also to increase physical over digital interactions.
Solution
Luckily, we came up with an easily accessible and affordable solution for all - we invented a physical board game: “Limbo of Life” to help children learn to communicate well, develop empathy and figure out the socially-appropriate response to a variety of different social situations, all while having fun playing with their friends. Unlike online resources that are aimed to be read by adults to advise children on such issues, our game fosters real peer-to-peer contact making children the centre of learning, growing & helping themselves and each other. Not only do we help teach interpersonal skills we also include sections within the game for self-care and social citizenship skills that link the children with broader societal issues; hopefully driving them towards making a change and helping the world like we’re hoping to do!
Ideally this board game would be played both in classrooms and at home by children aged between 5 and 12. After reviewing our first prototype and observing how children play we decided to make the game more colourful and visually pleasing to gain and keep children's attention while incorporating a multiplayer option which also encourages team building.
The idea is that the player discusses and comes up with a solution to the issue prompted on one of the cards (or takes a break from problem solving with a self care card) they could also act out the problem or create a conversation with other players or a supervising adult. The children are then rewarded with badges by their peers for most creative or brave answers and so on. Which in turn satisfies their reward needs while also not indicating a win/lose situation given the inclusive nature of the game.
Outcome
By the end of the 3 months we had created a beautiful board game and presented and pitched our social enterprise and went on to win the Audience Choice Award at the Ideas For Change showcase organised by STAND in Dublin City Centre.