Eco Toy Designers

Did you know that McDonalds is the largest toy distributor in the world?     They produce and distribute 1.5 billion toys each year.   That’s a whole lot of Happy Meals being devoured and with most toys being made of plastic, that’s a whole lot of plastic.    The  production of millions and millions of plastic toys, many of which are played with for a short time before being put away and then eventually making their way into landfill.

In this investigation, your class will take on the challenge of becoming eco-friendly toy designers for the fast food chains.   You will design a range of toys that can be created using recycled paper, cardboard or materials.   As the box sizes vary for each fast food chain, you will need to create two versions of the toy you design. The first should be a standard size and the second will need to be a miniature version that is exactly half the size of the standard one. Once your class has created the range of new eco-friendly toys, your class will take a photo of each design and add information about the measurements and materials required for the design. You can then submit your toy designs to the fast food company of your choice for consideration.

To complete this investigation, you will need to use some of the following:

Internet – to explore the different nets for different shapes and ideas for eco-friendly and paper toy designs.
Graphics Application – to create the designs and nets for the paper toys / eco-friendly toys you create.
Printer – to print out the designs you create on recycled paper or card.

Paper Toy Links

There are thousands of sites on the web where you can get ideas for your own paper or eco-friendly toy design. These are just a few to help you get started.

Paper Toys History –  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_toys
Paper Toy Designs at the Toy Maker –  www.thetoymaker.com/2toys.html
Paper Toys – www.papertoys.com

By the way, the facts and figures about McDonalds are fascinating.  Check them out at:
http://www.financetwitter.com/2014/10/twenty-awesome-fast-facts-about-mcdonalds-that-you-may-not-know.html