A pop-up book that opens into a mini golf course, played with a knight that swings a spring-loaded club. It teaches kids 6 and up how different weights move differently, with a guided path to follow and room for a second player. Fable Fairways joins the animal stories of a fable with the golf fairway: tales and tees guide your way.
MODELS
AR FORMAT
SCALE
RENDERER
FINDING 01
FINDING 02
FINDING 03
CHILD DEVELOPMENT
MIDDLE CHILDHOOD, AGES 6 TO 7
01 INDEPENDENCE
Kids this age take on simple chores and tasks alone, so the game has to explain itself.
02 THINKING
Critical thinking and basic math are sharpening, so aiming a shot becomes a real puzzle.
03 MOTOR SKILLS
Fine motor skills are developing, so the launcher rewards a careful push.
04 LEARNING STYLE
They learn by doing and asking questions, and their attention for structured learning is growing.
PERSONAS
Sally (6) is creative and loves to learn. Joseph (7) is a curious, self-driven only child. Ava (7) loves stories and a challenge. Together they need cooperative play, toys that travel, and a break from screens.
CENTRAL THEMES
PHYSICS
THINKING
MOTOR SKILLS
ERGONOMICS
Six and seven year olds grip at 16 to 26 lbs and pinch at 5 to 7 lbs, with a minimum of 11.5 and 3.5. Playground handrails for ages 5 to 12 run 2.4 to 3.9 cm, so the knight’s head is 1.45 in across to fill a small grip.
1.45 IN HEAD
11.5 LB GRIP
3.5 LB PINCH
MARKET ANALYSIS
Four learning toys from $22 to $40. Each teaches one idea well; none combines them inside a pop-up book.
MARBLE RUN · POP-UP BOOK
4 TOYS / WHAT FABLE FAIRWAYS BORROWS
MindWare Marble Run
Dinosaur Pop-up Book
Balance Game
Mouse Trap
MARBLE RUN
Open-ended building that teaches simple mechanics, ideally for one player.
POP-UP BOOK
An engaging pop-up book for visual learning, made of cardstock and paper.
BALANCE GAME
Hands-on wooden pieces for fine motor skills and critical thinking, for 2 to 4 players.
MOUSE TRAP
A Rube Goldberg board game that teaches simple mechanics, for 2 to 4 players.
SELF-GUIDED
GUIDED
SINGLE PLAYER
MULTIPLAYER
MARBLE RUN
BALANCE GAME
POP-UP BOOK
MOUSE TRAP
FABLE FAIRWAYS
DESIGN OPPORTUNITY
The top right was empty. Self-guided toys like marble runs are played alone, and the multiplayer games lean on step-by-step rules.
MUST HAVE
Teach how different weights move differently
A guided path a child can follow alone
Sized for a 6 to 7 year old’s grip
SHOULD HAVE
Play for two, taking turns
Folds flat to store on a bookshelf
COULD HAVE
More than one level in the book
A course you can place in AR
SKETCH IDEATION
Thirty quick concepts that blend existing toys with new ideas, from marble runs to balance games.
REFINED SKETCHES
Five directions taken further: Pop-Up Sports, Shuffle Golf, Tetris Balance, a musical marble run and a modular water run.
30 CONCEPTS
SKETCHING
MARKER RENDERING
SHUFFLE GOLF
The direction that went forward: mini golf in a pop-up book. The pages rise into a course, and a self-launching puck sends the ball around it.
FINAL CONCEPT SKETCH
COMPLIANT PUCK
The first launcher used the plastic itself as a spring. Every version after it kept a compliant mechanism of some kind.
CATAPULT MECHANISM
A tip from Andy Cho led to a torsion spring catapult, shrunk into a popsicle stick model and turned sideways into a golf swing.
COMPLIANT MECHANISM
TORSION SPRING
3D PRINTED PLA
POP-UP FUNDAMENTALS
Starting from zero: two weeks of cut and fold techniques, origami architecture and pop-up tutorials, ending in a full living room spread lined with chipboard.
CASTLE SCENE
After feedback the living room became a castle: one large centerpiece to play around, with everything else flat to the page so the puck slides freely.
TECHNICAL DRAWINGS
The head is 1.45 in across, sized to a six year old’s grip, and the smallest part is 1.25 in with a hole through it to reduce choking risk. The torsion spring works in both directions, with a limiter so it never over-winds.
FINAL LAUNCHER
Many torsion spring versions tuned the strength and durability. The shaft and spring became separate parts so the spring stopped shearing.
THE BOOK
Printed cardstock layered over chipboard for rigidity. The base plate was hand drawn in Procreate, and three strings through the spine fold the castle flat when the book closes.
GAMEPLAY
Start on the green circle, follow the path and land the puck in the red zone to win. Two players can take turns to see who finishes first.
USER TESTING
A seven year old tested the knight and an early version of the book.
FEEDBACK
The head fit his hand, he worked out the launcher on his own, and the half-built book already caught his attention.
CARDSTOCK
3D PRINTED PLA
CREDITS
INSPIRATION CREDITS
Andy Cho
Amiti Arunmozhi
Heidi Pineda Meza
Kyle Hagerty
Jett Lopez
CHARACTER DESIGN
Kathryn Hoang
IMAGERY
Kevin Park
StorySet (illustrations)
Adobe generative vector art
Polycam 3D scans