The Shadow Box is a tangible computing project
that exploits visual association and auditory clues to
teach children the representational relationship between
words and their meanings. The Shadow Box contains
three major components: themain box, picture blocks
and word blocks. The Shadow Box activates when a
block or a matching pair of blocks is placed inside. The
box prompts children to find matching blocks and
combine them together. When children successfully
combine the right word and picture, the box rewards
them with an animated video as if they had made the
objects come alive. An informal study shows that
children responded positively to the concept of the box.
They played with it for a length of time and engaged in a
collaborative learning process with other children.