Gen Craft App: A Smart DIY Learning Companion
Sparks creativity. Strengthens family bonds. Makes crafting safer and smarter for the next generation.
Problem + Opportunity
Problem: The DIY and home improvement sector often overlooks younger audiences. Despite rising interest in creativity and hands-on learning, children rarely have access to safe, engaging tools designed for them. Meanwhile, in the UK, loneliness among older adults is on the rise, with many grandparents feeling disconnected from their grandchildren in an increasingly digital age.
Opportunity: There’s a growing need for intergenerational connection and creative learning experiences that move children away from screens and into shared hands-on activities. Generation Craft—developed for Kingfisher as part of IDE Fundamentals—addresses this gap by sparking curiosity across generations through safe, collaborative making.
Our solution centers around Gen Craft, a companion app designed to manage and personalize the DIY experience for families. The app connects to a smart power drill and customizable maker kits, allowing adults to set safety parameters (like drill speed), track progress, and order new maker kits for home use.
What is Gen Craft?
Gen Craft is a smart DIY companion app that:
-
Enables adults to set safety controls for children’s smart tools (e.g. speed limits, usage time)
-
Connects families to a range of Maker Kits for guided home projects
-
Provides interactive tutorials to encourage creative learning and skill development
-
Encourages intergenerational collaboration between grandparents and grandchildren
Inspired by: LEGO Life, Tinkercad, and Apple Home (combining child-safe creativity with smart device control)
Unique Selling Point: “Sparking curiosity across generations” — Gen Craft transforms DIY from a solitary task into a shared learning journey, empowering children to explore creativity while keeping adults confidently in control.
(Previewed is a live demonstration of the app in use.)
🚀 Future Vision- Crowdsourced project library: A growing library of DIY ideas submitted by families worldwide
- Digital certificates or badges for progress tracking
- Wearable compatibility: Integration with devices like Apple Watch or a smart badge, allowing parents or grandparents to receive real-time updates on children’s activity and safety alerts
“Build together, stay connected”