The problem addressed in this project is the need for historical education for Chinese children aged 5-7, who currently lack sufficient avenues for such learning. Although historical museums are important educational resources, they are often not designed to be suitable for young children. Additionally, the design approaches of children's museums in China cannot directly replicate those from the United States due to significant cultural differences and educational values.The research suggests that incorporating Role Playing Game (RPG) elements is an effective solution to these challenges, providing a dynamic and engaging way for children to learn about history through active participation and storytelling.
Assist in understanding characters
EncourageAsk questions
Give feedback
Publish tasks
0rganize discussions
Video
Game
Story
Teaching Tools
Promote parent-child interaction: Designing spaces to enhance interaction andcommunication between parents and children, deepening the connection among family members through shared activities and experiences. Creating multifunctional areas toencourage parental involvement in their children's learning processes, including exploringareas together and engaging in role-playing activities.
Build guided discovery paths and educational journeys: Design a clear and guidedexploration path, introduce guiding questions and challenges to help children betterunderstand the exhibition content while maintaining their freedom to explore. In addition, thedesign should provide guidance for parents on children's education and allow parents tointuitively see its effects.
Support children's social skill development: The design aims to promote socialinteraction and teamwork among children to support the development of their social skills. The design should provide a safe, inclusive space that encourages children to freely express and share. It should also incorporate sufficient team challenges to promote the establishment of friendships.
Create an immersive experience:By creating fully immersive environments, thedesign enhances children's learning efficiency and emotional engagement significantly, asthey feel as if they are within the environments depicted in the exhibition content. Through interacting with the environment, children can further explore and understand the exhibition content in depth.
To obtain funding, the space needs to house genuine artifacts, and the design should revolve around these artifacts. Combining the "first-person perspective exploration" storytelling advocated by role-playinggames, the design decided that each artifact would represent an era. The user journey begins in the central exhibition space, where all the artifacts will be displayed. Each artifact represents an era, and users can enter the era they are interested in through the door behind each artifact.
After identifying the design goals and functional spaces, it is crucial to consider how to achieve these goals. Therefore, the design developed a Matrix of Possibilities.
Based on the basic concept of time travel, the mind map has developedmany related elements. Among them, clock, scroll, wheel, flashlight, and compass are allrelated to circular shapes. The clock is most closely associated with "time." The designdecided to use the "clock" as the foundation and then incorporate features of other circularelements to develop the final parti diagram.
The design extracted the "pointer" from the "clock" and "compass," the "cone-shapedlight" from the "flashlight," the "spiral" from the "scroll," and the "rotation" from the "'wheel'.By combining these elements, the parti diagram for this design was created. The focus is on the "spiral" (representing the passage of time) and the "pointer"(representing the moment). The "cone-shaped light" will be applied in the lighting
design.
1. Children first enter the Hall, where they can choose to sit on the sofa and wait for a while or go to the journey start point.
2. Entering the jourey begin point marks the beginning of the journeyThrough the electronic screen, children will learn the background story: some records of the Time Library have been lost, and they need help to travel to various eras to retrieve history.
3. Then, the main door opens, and the children enter the display room, which is the Time Library. Here, staff will distribute cameras and task books to the children, appointing them asspecial agents. Children will follow the instructions in the task book to take photos of historical points of interest they discover. Parents are provided with guidebooks to assist the children in understanding the historical knowledge related to the task book’s content. The display room showcases five historical artifacts, eachrepresenting its respective era. Children can choose the order of entering different eras basedon their interests.
5. The historical artifact representing the Zhanguo era is a sword. In the Zhanguo era, children firstsee a statue of the sword's owner and then experience the owner's story through a series of story scenes. They can then experience the smelting steps of the Zhanguo era. Finally, theyleave.
6. The historical artifact representing the Han era is a silk garment. In the Han era, children canplay a game of picking mulberry leaves in front of an interactive screen and learn about the morphology of mulberry leaves at a simulated mulberry tree model. Afterwards, children carexperience the dyeing and weaving steps of the Han era. They can wear long-sleeved Han garments in the "clothing store" and then enter the "palace" to learn court dances. Finally, they return the same way and leave.
7. The historical artifact representing the Tang era is a camel figurine. In the Tang era, children first enter the "desert" and then pass through the "city gate" to enter the main city. Here, they encounter an ATM where they can obtain a certain amount of Tang era currency. Next, they enter a "market" where they encounter various "shops." In these "shops," they can learnhistorical knowledge related to them, such as ancient musical instruments, ancient spices, etcThey can also use the currency to purchase "goods" from the shops. These "goods" are actually stickers that children can place in their task books as souvenirs. Finally, children can choose to return any unused currency and then leave.
8. The historical artifact representing the Song era is a painting of a street scene. In the Song era. Children can first exchange for Song era currency at the ATM. Then, they can experience various shops of the Song era. After entering the "city gate," children can experience ancient entertainment activities at the "fortune-telling booth" and "storytelling booth," and rest at the"tea stall." There is a "large bridge" in the space that spans a big river in the city. On this"large bridge," there are various "street vendors," where children can learn about street foodand daily necessities of the Song era. Further ahead is the "farmland," where children canlearn about agricultural developments of the Song era. Finally, they leave.
9. The historical artifact representing the Ming era is a porcelain vase. In the Ming era, childrencan experience painting on porcelain blanks in the "porcelain factory." They can combine different shapes and patterns on a machine and print out stickers. They can observe theporcelain-making process. Then, they leave the "porcelain factory" and follow the cargo routeto the "dock." Here, there are many goods ready for foreign trade, including porcelain. Children can observe these goods. After boarding the "ship," children can watch a videoabout the great maritime voyages of the Ming era and experience traveling overseas with the famous historical figure "Zheng He."
10. After experiencing all the eras, children can return the cameras in the display room. The content captured by the cameras will be evaluated. They will receive stickers from the staff that can open the door to the journey end point.
10. At the journey end point, children can take some tests on the machine about what theyhave learned. Based on their test results and photo evaluations, the machine will generate unique titles for them, such as "Keen Explorer" or "Memory Master Craftsman." These titleswill be printed as stickers, and children can place them on the wall or see the titles other shave earned.
11. At the end of the journey end point, symbolizing the children's return to the modernday, they can enter the souvenir shop to review their journey, take commemorative photos.and buy souvenirs. Finally, they return to the Hall, taking their task books as souvenirs andleaving the museum.
In the display room, the radiating lights on the ceiling and the patterns on the floor echo the design concept of "pointers." The chandeliers reflect the design concept of "spirals."The doors leading to different eras are open, covered with a layer of blue light, giving the impression of time portals. The areas around the doors are decorated with elements related to the content of the respective spaces, highlighting the features of each space and helping visitors choose the era they are interested in. The doors have illuminated text displaying the name of the era. The doors for exiting each era are the same color as the wallsto prevent confusion with the entrance doors.
At the entrance of the Zhanguo era exhibition hall, children can draw out and examine the historical figure's sword (not sharpened). The historical stories related to the artifacts are narrated through shadows projected by white film. Each compartment contains furniture or facilities related to the stories, allowing children to reenact these stories to deepen
their understanding. On the right wall, there is a timeline related to the Zhanguo era. Meanwhile, arrows indicate that the return path is on the right side, while the path forward is on the left side.
This area represents the desert. Visitors can immerse themselves in the experience of a Silk Road merchant traveling through the desert to the Tang Dynasty capital, Chang’an. Walking through this corridor leads directly to the gates of Chang’an.
On the left side of the corridor, electronic screens display videos of Silk Road caravans, creating the feeling of traveling alongside them. On the right side, various trade items used by merchants from the Western Regions are exhibited, offering a glimpse into their culture and commerce.
The ceiling design imitates willow trees, as there were many willow trees on the streets during the Song era. Curtains are hung on the left side of the bridge, which can bothdisplay information and serve as partitions. The area to the left of the partition represents "outside the city," while the area to the right represents "inside the city."
In front of the "large ship" is a giant screen theater, providing an immersive experience for the space. The "large ship" should have been slightly elevated above theground, but for wheelchair accessibility, the interior of the ship is at the same level as theground.
The design of the journey end point incorporates the "spiral" concept from the design, with cone-shaped lighting. The black walls enhance the deep space feel, and theuse of brass reinforces the clock-like ambiance. Light shines through the gaps in the brassfinish, displaying characters that express moments in Chinese. This space resembles a time tunnel, guiding children back to reality.
The design of the shelves and ceiling in the souvenir shop reinforces the "Time Library" feel. After passing through the "time tunnel," this area features a completely modern design style. The display stand in the middle of the space holds replicas of the exhibited artifacts, helping to review the entire journey. The space flanked by two electronic screens is used for taking commemorative photos. The background changes periodically, enhancing the playfulness of the space.
