Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Escape from Dingo Island

One of my fascinations is game creation. Escape from Dingo Island is a first attempt to put out there a very simple game I created  to teach some children I tutor and my own oldest child some basic maths. That maths is simply addition to ten which is regularly taught in early primary. In this game however students have to find if any combinations of numbers make ten from jumbled number sequences. That's a novel approach to the problem and involves adding multiple numbers in different combinations.

The game is also co-operative and positively themed which makes it suitable for kids in prep or year one. (You aren't even escaping from scary dingoes in the game but instead are helping animals including the dingoes escape from an island to safety.) This means it probably lacks the darkness and conflict that might appeal to older children some of whom could still benefit from practicing the skills it needs. That's a common challenge in education, how to combine age relevant themes and individually relevant levels of skill, which don't always match. Comment below if you want to suggest a version of this game that tells a different story to better engage older kids.

I'm linking to the game as a downloadable PDF file but I am also trying something new. It wont be a regular feature of the site (and it may not happen at all if I can't figure out how it works) but I'm asking for payment. I'm using a model I remember from my days loading free-ware off a floppy disk; try before you buy. Download the game and if it helps your children with their maths or if you like it so much you implement it across a whole school then pay the suggested price. If it isn't very useful then pay nothing.

And stay tuned because I'm still mulling over my thoughts about discernment and where I left my last post.

Download link:
Escape from Dingo Island




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