Twist-id Products conducted a successful trial of the MyColourCup Childcare Cup System at the Gap Community Day Care in Alice Springs in Nov-Dec 2010. The objective of the trial was to see if the MyColourCup would be a good option for childcare centres to manage getting drinks for their children in their care.
A system was used that incorporated a colour coded cup scheme, a colour coded tiered placement rack, and removable ink to apply names.
The children were easily able to locate and identify their own cups. The children were grouped by colours in groups of 6. The children had to know their colour, find their coloured rack tier and then locate their coloured cup with their name on it within a group of 6 cups.
The day care workers reported that the system was easier than their previous way of providing drinks to the children. They spent less time trying to locate a single cup with a child’s name on it, which was a daily occurrence. The children showed more responsibility for their own cup. The coloured tier rack took up less space and provided all the drinking cups in one place.
The removable ink used to write the children’s names on the cups was a bit messy and the ink took too long to dry. A continued investigation of different types of ink/ink remover for the cups names was conducted during the trial. A printable ink was found that could be initially applied to the label with a printer and removed with a different agent. Subsequent names could then be applied with a permanent marker and removed with the new removing agent. Further investigation would need to be conducted on the ink/ink remover for future applications.
It was noted that during the trial the cups would remain on their initial name and rarely get changed. So in that instance any cup would be sufficient as long as it incorporated a way to remove departing children's names.
Reusable cups in a childcare centre benefit the centre, the children, and the environment. When used in conjunction with a colour coded scheme it makes the logistics of providing drinks to children easier. The children claim responsibility of their own cups which provided a water/energy saving by not having to wash cups between uses (breakfast, morning/afternoon tea, lunch).
Does the MyColourCup have a place in childcare centers? I would have to say yes. Another use for the MyColourCup colour coding cup system would be within a large family. Large families tend to use cups, wash them and put them away in a cupboard. The changing of names would be more frequent.
The next project is to find a large family to trial this colour coded version of the MyColourCup. And investigate the removable ink/ink remover for future applications.
MyColourCup - the personalized plastic cup
