A table designed to last.

Children are eager to make, but their creations often end in landfills. Sprout is a table that is built, modified, and cherished from childhood.

Duration: Fall 2024, 14 weeks

Tools: SolidWorks, Keyshot, Adobe Illustrator, Aspire 4.0 (CNC)

Award: 2025 Core77 Student Noteable

Sprout is built by children, for children.

Inspiration

Creations become more special through acknowledgement.

When parents up their kid’s drawings up on the fridge, it becomes a permanent decor that the whole family shares.

That intimate celebration of one’s work is key to inspiring confidence.

My family’s fridge.

How can I capture that?

How to encourage children to question how things are made, and have the confidence to create and modify?

Children already love to create, they just need the right environment. Role models + community play a large part in fostering this confidence.

"You need to give the kid the space to contribute and feel like they're a part of the making." - Teacher

"In the context of inclusively, making is really a lubricant for community." - Teacher

“If it seems official, or adult, or special, they are very interested.” - Parent

IdeationRethinking a fundamental furniture item, the table, to promote questioning other everyday objects. Designing two stages: early-life as a play table, and late-life as a desk.

F orm Refinement
While balancing between toy-like and not, I focused on the educational aspect of the assembly.

It was also a matter of restraint on gear variables, as to not ‘distract’ a child during the building experience.

Prototyping

1/4-scale models to better understand how much freedom the modular system should have.

Early prototype testing strength of nut-bolt system and size of nuts.

Fabrication
Constructed from plywood, corkboard, and plastic-encased hardware. These materials are both widely-available and light enough for kids to handle.

Learning Aspire 4.0 and creating the legs on the CNC

CNC Plywood and wood-glued corkboard for the moveable panels.

Drillpressing chamfers for the throughholes on the other side.

3D-Printed and spray painted parts prepped for molding.

Vytaflex 30 Mold with 2-part SmoothOn for the hardware.

Sample hardware showing issues with improper mold venting.

Sprout aims to foster community celebration of creativity.

[1] Build

Building the table offers a foothold into understanding how the world is made.

Made to not look like a ‘toy’, it allows the child to create a ‘real, big thing’ that has it’s place in the home.

With the child as the lead constructor, Sprout is designed to be built together.

The fastners mimick industry-standard construction, allowing for a learning opportunity.

[2] Modify + Grow

Designed as a modular system, Sprout affords creative freedom, yet remains simple enough to learn quickly.

What could it be? A play-table, a desk, or even a secret fort?

[3] Cherish + Last

A table that lasts, Sprout holds the sentimental value of making with others.

Much like a childs drawings on a fridge, Sprout is a creation that's celebrated in the home.