Kilter - Unstructured Play
Kilter - Unstructured Play from Bryce Twede
Kilter - Unstructured Play

Allowing kids to build their own play

Unstructured play is a source of powerful cognitive, social, and problem solving benefits to children. Unfortunately, many elements of unstructured play have been eliminated from the daily lives of many children because of new technology and trends.

My Kilter blocks allow children to play whenever they want without needing an adult to set the parameters. Within minutes of playing, children continue to find clever and unique ways to use Kilter that surprise me. Since the toys are on a furniture scale they never need to be put away and the kids play with them often as they feel creative. Kilter does not eliminate structured activities but subtly adds the building blocks of unstructured play.

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My exploration began as I created toy concepts that were entertaining and open ended.
Toys do promote play but not always unstructured play. My initial concepts were interesting but fell short of my goal.
Blocks are the historically leader in promoting unstructured play as the child must create their own experience.
Toys must usually be put away when the child is finished playing. But furniture is always out and allows a child to have fun beyond play time.
I discovered an interesting pair of block forms that required me to play with it to understand how it worked.
Final prototype production with help and feedback from children.
At two design shows, my blocks were the main attraction for each child that attended.
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Kilter - Unstructured Play

Allowing kids to build their own play

Unstructured play is a source of powerful cognitive, social, and problem solving benefits to children. Unfortunately, many elements of unstructured play have been eliminated from the daily lives of many children because of new technology and trends.

My Kilter blocks allow children to play whenever they want without needing an adult to set the parameters. Within minutes of playing, children continue to find clever and unique ways to use Kilter that surprise me. Since the toys are on a furniture scale they never need to be put away and the kids play with them often as they feel creative. Kilter does not eliminate structured activities but subtly adds the building blocks of unstructured play.

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Bryce Twede
Industrial Designer Provo, UT