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This multifunctional furniture is directed at children between 3 and 5 years of age.

Its main purpose is to help children carry out school work.

The designers obtained feedback from 10 children for their design.

The furniture can be also fitted with padding for use as a chair.

It may also be used as a toy box or organizer.

Children most likely do not like to do schoolwork and many time parents have a hard time making their children do their homework. 

This could be because children associate homework with having an obligation and they do not have fun doing so, as many times parents coerce their children to study as a form of punishment. This creates resistance and disinterest in studying which will probably reflect in other educational stages over the course of the child’s future life. 

In face of this scenario Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNal) in Palmira Industrial Design students Daniela Garzón Osorio, Edwin Castaño and Johanna Aguirre addressed this issue from a child’s early stage (ages 3 to 5) to favor academic activities such as pre-reading and pre-writing. 

They developed an element which provides 3 functionalities. First it may be used as a desk, but in reality it is not because it is not rigid and has low functionality and is also useful to carry out leisure activities as children can also rock the furniture back and forth.  

Besides the two aforementioned functions, as the child grows him/she may use the furniture as an organizer for shoes or toys, making it useful and prolonging its lifespan. 

Additionally part of the playful activity is favored thanks to the ample design which allows children to move easily and take different postures such as to sit in several manners according to the need of every child and thanks to the padding. 

The object relies on the concept of a kangaroo because it is an animal which carries its young, so they wanted a piece of furniture to receive children and be confortable, stable and for children to accept it as a moving object, yet safe and secure to carry out their activities. 

Based on the preceding, the piece gathers the concept of the word ‘ovum’, which in Latin means ‘egg’ because it “contains or welcomes”, as the students claim. The furniture enables children to carry out diverse activities, from schoolwork to leisure in an unnoticeable fashion, so they think of doing homework as a fun activity. 

“We especially also thought of parents because to many of them it is uncomfortable to tell their children to do their homework or study and the design helps them do their work,” said Garzón. 

The course called Design Projectural Node and Use was directed by ergonomy specialists Professors Patricia Saray and Eliana Castro, helped the students perform an analysis of the parent and children rest activities and the surrounding environment as well as segmenting users by using body measurements (weight and social class, among other variables). 

Furthermore they analyzed the objects traditionally used to determine their advantages and disadvantages; besides addressing the production economy concept to avoid using unnecessary and expensive materials. They worked with 10 children to check and make adjustments based on their needs.