#SWDchallenge: graphing for—or with—kids

Written By Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic

In the world of storytelling with data, our focus is creating graphs and visualizations for a business audience—graphs designed to inform and drive decision-making. Lately, however, I’ve been designing visuals with a very different audience in mind: kids. 

In my new book, Daphne Draws Data: A Storytelling with Data Adventure, heroine Daphne helps friends by transforming numbers into problem-solving pictures. For example, underwater she draws a scatterplot to settle a crustacean debate, and in outer space Daphne uses a 100% stacked bar to help aliens manage their fuel. These examples illustrate how graphs can be both informative and fun, inspiring young minds to use data to learn about themselves and the world around them.

I’ve had an incredible amount of fun crafting scenarios and designing data visualizations with kids in mind, and I thought you might, too. You’ll get a chance in this month’s challenge.

The challenge

Make a graph for—or with—kids. As you tackle this challenge, I encourage you to consider elements that can be used to make graphs appealing, comprehensible, and engaging for a young audience, like vibrant colors, playful themes, and clear titles. Whether you create a graph for kids to enjoy or involve them in the process, aim to make it a delightful experience, for you and for them. Have fun!

Share your creation in the SWD community by July 31st at 5PM ET. If there is any specific feedback or input that you would find helpful, include that detail in your commentary. Take some time also to browse others’ submissions, and share your input via comments and datapoints over the course of the month.


Related resources

Here are a few related resources. If you are aware of other good ones, please share in your submission commentary.


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Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic
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