a toy car that teaches 3–5 year olds to clean up their own snack crumbs — no nagging required
We partnered with a preschool in Evanston to solve a real daily problem: dry snack crumbs everywhere, and kids aged 3–5 with zero motivation to clean. The challenge was to design a child-safe, genuinely fun toy that also actually works — and that teachers could empty and reset without giving kids access to the mechanism. Our solution: a toy car with a gear-driven brush inside a Tupperware chassis. Push it, crumbs get swept in. Done.
The rear wheels drive a chain to a small gear on the brush axle. As the car rolls forward, the brush spins and sweeps crumbs into the Tupperware container below. Gear ratio optimized for maximum sweep speed at a child's push pace. The Tupperware lid clips shut — only a teacher can open it.
The car body was modelled in SolidWorks and 3D printed — sized to sit over a standard Tupperware container. Brush selection was tested across 4 types for sweep efficiency, child safety, and cleanability.
