A few weeks ago we talked about the challenge of The game in the classroom, a contest aimed at all Spanish schools organized by the Children's Game Observatory of the Growing Playing Foundation with the sponsorship of the Spanish Association of Toy Manufacturers (AEFJ). The main objective was to recognize those schools that applied gaming experiences in the classrooms of primary and child cycles as a teaching resource to teach a specific subject or subject. And it is that the game and the toy have become not only essential elements in the physical, psychic and social development of children but also has increased their presence in the classrooms as part of many subjects making learning more fun and faster from the same.
As noted by the heads of several schools that have participated in the contest The game at school It is about using the game as a pedagogical element because it favors the autonomy of the students and increases their confidence. In addition, academic performance improves because classroom work is complemented with activities to which children show greater interest, encourages them to learn concepts more quickly and also retain them in memory.
In the second edition of this contest have participated Early childhood, primary and special education centers throughout Spain. The participating schools, in their projects, have agreed to highlight the benefits that these didactic gaming experiences have brought to the students. The special education centers point out the importance of the game to avoid altercations when the children present unjust behaviors and the increase of the individual autonomy of the students.
In primary schools they have recognized that what children like best is break the chair-table-slate protocol because with these activities the academic results, the coexistence in the classroom are improved and in addition the students understand and assimilate the theoretical concepts.
The members of the Children's Game Observatory have been responsible for deciding which projects deserved recognition in 2014. The winners, three centers, will receive a lot of toys to equip their game classrooms and small toy libraries thanks to the collaboration of the toy companies: Berjuan, Famosa, Game Movil, INJUSA, Toys Cayro, M. Llorens Juan, Manufacturas Quecos, Mattel, Miniland, Arias Dolls, Playmobil and Smoby.
The winning projects have been:
- Would you teach me to play? Of the College of Special Education "Father Apolinar" of Santander. A project carried out in a classroom of the basic stage formed by five students with generalized developmental disorder. The main objective is to start the little ones in understanding the world around them through imitation games
- The Game in the Classroom, of the Torrevilano Infant and Primary School of Madrid. An experience carried out in Spanish Language and Literature with the students of first cycle of primary school whose objective is to favor the auditory and visual discrimination of the letters, syllables and words, develop the oral expression and sequence sentences in a text
- Matemagia, of the School of Infant and Primary Education Mediterranean of Melilla. A project that has been developed in the area of ​​mathematics with fifth grade of primary school. It is a school located in a marginal neighborhood of Melilla where many of the students do not speak the language fluently, so the game is used as an educational element to arouse curiosity and enjoy calculating and guessing
We congratulate the winning schools and the AEFJ that drives this competition between centers and that has the objective of identifying and communicating the best educational practices among kids based on play and toys.
