In this paper we propose a way to motivate children to learn about science by creating a design process scenario where the children are the designers who have to learn about the material provided for their new products. The material in this case is technology embedded in the children's own toys, two of the main sensors of the video game console Nintendo Wii; the accelerometer and the IR sensor. Through embodied interactions with analogue physical models, in activities called Sciensations, we want to encourage a deeper understanding of the functioning of the technology and also of some related natural science phenomena. An elementary school class of twenty-five students in ages 10--11 was studied while engaged in a design process that ran from startup to prototype evaluation. The resulting design concepts showed several innovative usages of the sensing technologies that indicates an understanding both of the technology and the corresponding natural phenomena. The activities also encouraged discussions and reflections around these abstract concepts.

In any design process, a medium's properties need to be considered. This is nothing new in design. Still we find that in HCI and interactive systems design the properties of a technology are often glossed over. That is, technologies are black-boxed without much thought given to how their distinctive properties open up design possibilities. In this paper we describe what we call inspirational bits as a way to become more familiar with the design material in HCI, the digital material. We describe inspirational bits as quick and dirty but fully working systems in both hardware and software built with the aim of exposing one or several of the dynamic properties of a digital material. We also show how they provide a means of sharing design knowledge across the members of a multi-disciplined design team.