In the summer term 2025, an interdisciplinary course at Dresden University of Applied Sciences brought together Master’s students from Design and Computer Science to explore tangible digital interaction. Focusing on »Tangibles for Kids,« the course tasked student teams with designing interactive systems that support playful learning and embodied exploration for young children. In partnership with a Dresden kindergarten, user studies provided valuable, child-centered insights. Through collaborative, project-based work, the students developed physical-digital prototypes tailored to children’s cognitive and sensory needs. The results below illustrate the potential of collaborative learning between design and computer science in shaping future-oriented interaction concepts.

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MuCo

Florian Zeibig Christina Epple

How can children explore and remember museum content better? MuCo is an interactive, child-friendly companion that playfully supports, structures, and extends the experience of the exhibition World of the Senses at the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Dresden.

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Vegetable Geniuses

Amelie Gruhn Alexander Schulz

Vegetable Geniuses is an interactive model bed using crocheted vegetable figures, info cards, and visual feedback to playfully teach mixed cultivation, water, and sun needs – for children and curious adults.

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MODUPLAY

Benjamin Emereau Lilli Rothe

…is a modular, analog play system designed to get children moving. Inspired by research on physical activity and cognitive development, it offers interactive tools that promote motion, focus, and creative engagement through play.

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SNOLD

Gabriel Pechstein Robert Kürzel

SNOLD is an interactive, sensor-equipped toy designed to answer the questions that naturally arise during active play; How high can I throw it? How fast can I run? How far can I jump?

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Urban Explorer

Caroline Kortrijk Tatyana Vervekina Lilia Schneider

Urban Explorer encourages kids (ages 6-8) to learn about renewable energy and city planning by freely building, combining and discovering.

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TinyTrails

Lara Loreen Balkanski Lea Sophie Rochner

TinyTrails is a tangible learning toy for children aged 4 and up that teaches basic programming concepts through storytelling, music, and exploration on an interactive play carpet.

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Language Puzzle

Lilly Joram Julian Gauger

The Language Puzzle is an interactive, multimodal language learning game for children aged approximately five to eight. Its goal is to promote language learning through a playful environment, particularly through visual, tactile, and auditory learning.