1. The Tennessee Bean Machine
EF Toy Project
- B17
- CBQ
- Christian Eaves, Kristen McGhee, Samantha Stripling, Quint Gasque
- EF152 Spring 2017
4/4/2017

2. Customer Requirements
Our toy is designed to be an educational device for young children ages 3-6. Between the ages of 2 and 4, children begin to think in images and symbols; our goal is to stimulate these thoughts in order to further develop their minds as they grow.
The purpose of our toy was to encourage cognitive thinking in children, and to test their knowledge of size, shape, and volume.
We wanted to make a simple, yet educational toy for very young children. Our long-term, theoretical goal was to put one of our products in every preschool and kindergarten class in America.
Customer Requirements

3. Design Idea Multiple colors of beans Two different sized beans
Multiple colored holes
Beans sorted by size and color
Must sort beans before timer runs out
Design Idea

4. Original Design: Rough sketch, 7 same sized holes.
Design Process
Final Design: Hole sizes differ, color assortment narrowed down, spring eliminated.
Original Design: Rough sketch, 7 same sized holes.
Design 2: We constructed a possible design that included a spring mechanism.

5. Final Design
Top view
Bottom view

6. Final Design •8 holes (4 small, 4 large) in circular piece of plywood
•Drill press
•Band saw
•4 colors of holes and beans
•Spray paint
•Acrylic paint
•Large and small beans
•5 for each color and size
•Simple design, easy to produce
•Represents educational purpose of toy
Final Design

8. As mentioned in our project proposal, our target customers were children aging from 3 to 6 years old.
We tested our prototype on a kindergarten class, where most of the students were either 5 or 6.
All in all, the kids seemed quite entertained with the toy. They were focused and busy the whole time they played.
The teacher felt like it was a great learning mechanism for students at that level and definitely at a preschool age.
Customer Feedback

9. Costs 1 Unit: Wood- $1.00 Beans- $0.15 Paint- $2.50
Total construction cost: $3.65
Selling at: $14.99
Profit for 1 unit: $11.34
1000 Units: (Buying materials in bulk)
Cost of 1 unit: $1.60
Cost of 1000 units: $160.00
Profit for 1000 units: $14,830
Design Time: 15 hours
Costs

10. A simple, yet elegant sorting game built for young children
A simple, yet elegant sorting game built for young children. Designed to prompt cognitive thinking using shape and volume differentiation. Using colored beans and color coded slots, this game will give children the fun task of sorting beans within the allotted time. Our product is both educational and fun!
Possible improvements:
The small pieces pose potential choking hazards for small children. Making the board bigger with bigger pieces could help eliminate that problem.
An added piece to the toy, such as a spring, could broaden the age range by a few years.
Summary