Ergonomics from Classroom to Office | Workspace Design Lab Ep. 6

🧠 Can toys make us better designers?

In this solo episode of Workspace Design Lab, host Syl Vander Park takes a thoughtful dive into how everyday objects, like fidget toys and lap pads, are changing the way we think about workplace comfort, focus, and inclusion. Inspired by a conversation with her 6-year-old daughter, Syl explores how tools often used in classrooms can translate to adult offices in powerful ways. From posture and sensory input to neurodiverse-friendly design, this episode uncovers the small, often overlooked choices that lead to more human-centered workspaces. If you're designing for wellbeing, this one’s a must-listen.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:
• Ergonomic chairs, kneeling stools, and balance balls can promote posture and improve focus
• Fidget toys and tactile tools help with emotional regulation and engagement
• Sensory mats and weighted lap pads provide comfort and body awareness
• Neurodiversity needs to be considered in workplace design
• Personal comfort tools, photos, gadgets, habits, have ergonomic impact
• Adult nervous habits can mirror tools used in childhood classrooms
• Inclusive design should address how people actually function, not just how spaces look
• Education settings offer inspiration for ergonomic innovation
• Repetitive movement helps regulate attention and processing
• Movement between activities supports focus and anticipation

BEST MOMENTS:

00:01:43. “Do you talk about toys? And I thought about it... what a wonderful way to think about our workplaces.”
00:02:28. “We're all some kind of overwhelmed with what I'm looking at. I can get distracted and lose my train of thought.”
00:03:15. “Some people, they have their desks and they put their pictures up. That gives them a sense of comfort.”
00:04:07. “The elementary school and children's ergonomic considerations are probably... I’m going to have to do a deep dive.”
00:05:09. “Ergonomic toys would support good posture, improve focus and provide sensory input.”
00:06:02. “Safety. Ensure all toys are childproof and made of non-toxic materials.”
00:07:44. “Generally people talk about making sure that kids get up every 30 minutes.”
00:09:48. “Can public schools implement great lessons from what we see in workplaces?”

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Workspace Design Lab | Healthy Spaces, Lasting Impact

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Join host Syl VanderPark as we explore ergonomic office design, modern interiors, and sustainable workspace solutions with architects, designers, and industry leaders.

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Transcript

0:00

There was an interesting thing here in terms of ergonomic workspace designs and key considerations, posture and ergonomics. So for seating, consider ergonomic chairs, kneeling chairs or balance balls that promote good posture and can help with focus sensory input. Many children benefit from tactile input fidget toys, weighted lap pads and sensory mats can provide comfort and help maintain focus. Fidget toys can help improve focus, emotional regulation and engagement by providing small, repetitive movements. Welcome to Workspace Design Lab, the show where architects, interior designers and workplace leaders explore the future of workspace interiors. Each week we dove into ergonomic office design, modern workspace trends and sustainable furniture solutions that improve wellbeing and performance. I'm Silvana Vander PARC and together will uncover the stories, strategies and innovations that help you design offices that truly work. Let's dove in. I want to take some time to speak directly in this kind of 1 to 1 session. One day I was trying to come up with some ideas of what I could talk about and my six year old daughter was helping me and she was asking me what the podcast was about. I said, It's about designing places where we work and how to make it so that we do things as best as we can and gives us comfort. And she says to me, she says, Well, do you talk about toys? And I thought about it and I said, No, we haven't talked about toys yet, but, you know, what a wonderful way to kind of think about our workplaces and how people work. You know, what gives people comfort and kind of the little things where it could be the big things, too. Lighting. Being able to have natural daylight. You know, you've got a personal temperature control, climate control kind of unit, the old Johnson controls. So you could have heat or cooling at your desk to give you physical comfort. There are little things, and I think a lot of people started to get into little gadgets and or fidget toys or will have like a little nervous what we call a nervous habit. And that is our body staying engaged. And while we're thinking about something and, you know, shaking your leg, doing a little movement, whatever it is, doodling, look at something else rather than look straight ahead, because that helps me to concentrate on what I want to say. We're all some kind of overwhelmed with what I'm looking at. I can get distracted by that and lose my train of thought. So humans are such interesting beings. We're capable of so much and we're all so unique. And not everybody works the same or functions the same. And that's what makes it so great, is just looking at all the variation. It's part of what makes the world so rich, isn't it? So getting back on track, I like the question about the toys because it started to look at kind of, you know, yes, our little are the little kind of things that we do as as adults to make us comfortable. You know, some people, they have their their desks and they create they put their pictures up and that gives them a sense of comfort. Now, you know, you want to try now and in the workspace to capture everybody's comfort zone. I will be interviewing some people coming up about neurodiversity and kind of inclusionary design considerations when putting together a new workplace. And so there's there's new thought coming through into what should go into a workplace, which is is really fascinating. It's really taking us into more consideration as human beings, looking at how we connect, looking at how we work, and taking ergonomics to another level. I will take this moment to then because, you know, we're talking about toys and kids to look at school workplaces, because that's that's where it all begins, isn't it? I guess it's truly begins at the home, but kind of going out somewhere to your job, that school at the beginning at least you know how one person had explained it to me, which I thought it was cute. The elementary school and children's ergonomic considerations are probably I'm going to have to do a deep dove at that at some point and find somebody to talk to or find a bunch of people to talk to because of course, there's so many approaches to education. So, you know, there's Montessori, there's classical, there's now traditional schooling and each kind of has their own take. And then there's probably a lot more different. You know, there's the Waldorf and probably each school philosophy comes with its own set of ergonomic tools. But generally speaking, in terms of just going back to toys, ergonomic toys would support I don't know if you can call them toys, but they would support good posture, improve focus and provide sensory input. So ergonomic chairs would help to provide good posture to children and then things like lap pads and fidget toys. That's what I was looking showing here. The movement helps the children to stay engaged or gives them, I think the lap pads and and kind of weighted things gives them a a sense of their body. They feel their body more and that allows them to feel more comfortable and to focus. There was an interesting thing here said in terms of ergonomic workspace designs that key considerations, posture and ergonomics. So for seating, consider ergonomic chairs, kneeling chairs or balance balls that promote good posture and can help with focus sensory input. Many children benefit from tactile input, fidget toys, weighted lap pads and sensory mats can provide comfort and help maintain focus safety, ensure all toys are childproof and made of nontoxic materials as children may put them in their mouths. Focus and engagement. Fidget toys can help improve focus, emotional regulation and engagement by providing small, repetitive movements. I've heard also about workplaces or outdoor classroom environments where kids go for hikes and they'll learn to count by counting items in nature that they find and it connects with them. Again, that starts to look into different ways of teaching, different toolkits, which, you know, any teacher can really implement depending on their creativity and their experience. Finally, kind of the ergonomic structure of the day, generally, people talk about making sure that kids get up every 30 minutes, so asking an elementary school child to sit still and learn longer than 30 minutes isn't really going to achieve much. And I was talking with my mom, who she remembers. She still remembers her kindergarten class. And so fondly. And this is in the 1950s, Mexico, small town Mexico. And she said her favorite time was when they got up there. You know, you'd have kind of like circle time and you'd have a learning time where you talk about what day it was, the week and what the weather was outside, etc.. But the best time was when they went to the centers and I said, Yeah, I think I think that's probably still the favorite of kids these days. So, you know, from the fifties to the 2020s now we are still working largely with the ideas of centers and moving from station to station, doing different activities. And it's that movement in between that helps to transition from one thing to another and you get to look forward to the next change. I'm going to have to look through the sequence of elementary school to middle school, to high school, to understand the progression of how ergonomics can hit each major section of school. And I'm looking forward to that. So stay tuned on that topic. As I look through education, I'm very interested always in education, mainly because we're always learning throughout our life. That's where we learn to learn as we look to what the future of work is going to look like, what the future of the world is going to look like, what our kids are going to look forward to when they're adults and our grandchildren, etc. Looking to what the classroom looks like is how has it evolved? How is it evolving now and how should it evolves? Looking at how adults are now and looking at all the inclusive items and the ergonomics items and saying, okay, is there anything that can be translated from that back to the schools? Can we learn from the adults that helps the children to learn more effectively, more easily so that kids are not missed? How can we be more inclusive so that we can address different types of learning profiles without really having to reinvent everything? Our little things here and there that can be implemented in every school, you know? Can public schools implement great lessons from what we see in workplaces, adult workplaces or excellent offices that really focus on inclusion and optimal work environments for the people? I'm hoping to tie that all back as we look at different corporations and companies who are trying to do interesting things with their workplaces and then look at education and see what's interesting there. And can one help the other and vice versa. So thanks for sharing with me. So that little monologue, if you find it interesting and you feel like talking about it with me, then please send me a message. You can contact me at Sil s y l at Nova Low-Income and O va and k dot com. You can also message through Instagram. The handle is nova link pcf so no b, a and k ps and Peter. Susan, Charlie FSN Foxtrot. Send me a DM if you are interested in being interviewed and talking about these kinds of things and I look forward to talking to you and sharing more. Take care. Bye. Thanks for checking out Workspace Design Lab. If you're an architect, interior designer or workplace professional looking to stay ahead in ergonomic office design and modern workspace interiors, make sure to follow the show on your favorite podcast platform for more resources on Sustainable Office Furniture and human centered workspace design, visit us at NOVA Links. Until next time.