The Berks County Intermediate Unit’s (BCIU) Office of Professional Learning (OPL) coordinated a Toy Adaptation Day at the BCIU Main Office on Friday, December 6, 2024. The event brought together students from the Brandywine Heights Area School District (BHASD) and the Muhlenberg School District (MSD), along with FiERCE (Futures in Engineering: Rolemodels Can Empower) students and their engineering professors from Penn State Berks. The focus was on the modification of battery and switch-operated toys to better accommodate students with special needs who require switch-adapted toys for improved gross motor skills.
The event provided a hands-on learning experience, allowing students to assemble their switch-created adaptations, dismantle the toys, make modifications, reassemble them, and tag them for distribution to students within the Brandywine Heights Area, Muhlenberg, and other Berks County schools. Students from the BCIU’s Pathways to Adult Living (PAL) program also participated by testing the adapted toys, preparing them for delivery, and gaining valuable teamwork skills.
Berks LaunchBox supported the project by helping to process 3-D printed molds that were essential for the toy adaptations.
Katie Kehm, OPL Program Administrator, shared, “The biggest pieces of this project are empathy and disability awareness. The idea that some kids might not be able to use certain toys would not occur to most people. Of course, the event also provides a chance for kids to flex their engineering muscles. The students have spent time at Penn State Berks taking part in the design process and coming up with a prototype. Everyone has come together and worked so well together.”
The BCIU is appreciative of all the students, educators, and staff who participated or contributed to the Toy Adaptation Day.