Lauren Hoffman

Industrial Design, 2020

Champion Intergenerational Center is a combined Early Learning Center and Adult Day Care Center in Columbus, Ohio. Only one hour of each preschooler’s week is dedicated towards meaningful interaction with the older adults. Stress and turnover among staff make it difficult to plan and facilitate new activities.

Join is a tool designed with Champion to bolster their mission of intergenerational care; Join blocks encourage calm and autonomous play after intergenerational lunches. The blocks are easy to slide together for those with limited dexterity, and its illustrations include a variety of ages, races, and abilities. Three themes—nature, neighborhood, and friends and family—mix over time, creating new communities for kids and older adults to explore together. The blocks promote linguistic, social-emotional, and cognitive development in preschoolers and help facilitate meaningful social interaction for the older adults at Champion.

Lauren Hoffman is an Industrial Designer originally from Midland, Michigan. Her focus within Industrial Design has primarily surrounded the design of children’s toys and products for infants, and she has completed internships at Crayola and Fisher-Price. She is passionate about play and the joy that small details can bring to life and has a great desire to create products and systems that make life happier and healthier for communities. After graduation, Lauren will be returning to Fisher-Price full-time to design newborn toys, sleep products, and baby gear.