Pure Play

Pure Play is a pogo stick designed in Fall 2022. The prompt for this studio was “survival”, so I took the direction of how children’s survival in Utah is being threatened by the air quality.  

The geography of Salt Lake City, a place that prides itself on its access to the outdoors, is a bowl-shaped valley. In Winter, an inversion occurs that traps polluted air close to the ground, making the city’s air quality some of the worst in the world. As a result of this, children in Salt Lake have higher rates of asthma and respiratory problems, along with having recess indoors because the outside air is too dangerous to play in.

Out of this research, I designed a pogo stick that is fit with air filters, to “clear” the air and engage kids in the conversation about air quality. Polluted air enters the pogo stick when it is extended, and as it compresses, the air is pushed through a filter, purifying the air and pushing it out vents in the handles. Crucial features of the toy include the filter, a removable piece that can be replaced with use, along with the pogo spring fitted with a disk that pushes air through said filter. Additionally, the chamber is fitted with a one-way valve to ensure the air follows the correct path and doesn’t exit through the intake.