Third-grade students recently combined research, game design, and 3D tools in the Upper School maker space to create gamified tools to teach their classmates about the six cultural regions of North America 500 years ago.
Forming teams to create their games, students identified the natural features and elements of their chosen region, such as land, water, climate, and the ways ancient peoples used their environment in each cultural area.
To distill that information into a game, students had to discern what stands out the most about those features and what they wanted the game players to know. Then came the fun part: will their game resemble Candyland, Clue, Chutes & Ladders, Monopoly, or a unique creation? What would they name the game?
Students got to work and sorted out the goals for their games, brainstormed catchy names, and developed the ever-important rules. Then, after viewing prototypes in the maker space, they created their playing object designs such as spinners, poppers, dice, playing pieces, and cardholders.
Once it is time to roll the dice and play, students will rotate through each station to learn the rules and enjoy the games. Students delighted in working together in the maker space and creating engaging and interactive learning experiences for each other.
“I liked that we got to pick a region and do facts about it and make a game. We had the Northeast Woodland region, so our game was the Northeast Woodland Trivia Run. We made playing pieces and trivia cards and a pop-up thing for taking turns.” – Heidi M. ’31
“I liked the maker space because it’s in the high school, and I got to see how high school works by going there. We made all kinds of stuff with a bunch of machines. I studied the Arctic/Subarctic. Our team created a game called Arctic Survival, and the goal is to reach the village while also surviving the cold.” – Justin L. ’31
“I liked the maker space because we got to go through the high school, and we got to 3D print all the pieces to make the region game. We did the Northeast Woodlands, and we made little people who are hunters, and they all have to work together to make it there. I loved using Tinkercad to make all the pieces for the game.” – Chloe C. ’31
“My region was the Arctic/Subarctic, and we made a game with a box to hold it. We made a popper for taking turns, and our playing pieces were a hawk, a polar bear, and a dog.” – Evan S. ’31
“Our region was the Northwest, and our game was The Wild Wild Northwest. We made two card decks, easy and hard, with a spinner that determines what card you get.” – Lucy S. ’31
“Our region was the Plains, and our game is Great Plains Crush. We created objects for the game, a person hiking, a deer, a fish, and a teepee. – Ellie S. ’31
Way to play and learn at the same time, third graders!