InvenTable
Course

IPD 5510 | Design Processes

Designer

Kausi Raman

Instructors

Sarah Rottenberg
Mike Avery

The invenTABLE is an all-in-one station for 8-10 year old kids to make whatever they can imagine out of cardboard. It capitalizes on two key trends: families’ desires to teach their kids valuable STEM skills and the importance of developing more sustainable products and reducing waste.

On average, a typical American household will throw away up to 13,000 pieces of cardboard in a single year. invenTABLE provides these households with new ways to turn their waste into learning opportunities for children and upcycle cardboard into useful products.

The table itself is made from cardboard and will arrive flat-packed, so the first project is to assemble it and gain an understanding of how 2D shapes can transform into 3D objects. The table includes a power tool accessory called a nibbler that is safe for kids to use as the blade is encased in plastic with only 3 mm of distance to feed material through —too small for little fingers to touch. Also included is a circle punch—cutting tool that can cut pockets in the middle of the cardboard pieces, and a bladeless scoring tool to easily fold the cardboard pieces.

This provides endless opportunities for kids to make things out of cardboard. They can use the box that the table comes in as the material for their first project, and after that can use scrap cardboard from their homes to invent their next product!