Curlybot +
Physical play is integral to childhood development. Often children pair sound, dialogue, and onomatopoeia with their actions and interactions. Through these imaginative experiences, simple toys become portals to fantastical worlds, enriching cognitive and social growth. However, screen-based video games and entertainment media often fail to preserve the tangible aspects of physical play. This paper introduces Curlybot+, a robot designed to record and replay the auditory and kinetic elements of play. By aligning with children's natural play patterns, Curlybot+ supports imaginative engagement through an interactive modality of sound and movement playback, fostering deeper creative expression. We aim for Curlybot+ to enhance physical play by making tangible toys dynamic and interactive, providing an experience that outperforms digital media. This effort seeks to reintroduce a more embodied form of play, encouraging physical situated engagement in an increasingly mediated digital world
