Playful education - learning with games

<< Background >>Playful Education – Learning with games is a crossborder cooperation developed by the involved three countries to search for activities, games, be familiar with the best practices which can be motivating to those students who have a lack of interest in learning and might fall back because of this and because of their attitude towards learning which might not be appropriate. Upon the observation and experiences of the involved teachers the number of students with difficult backgrounds have been rising which has an effect on their school work has. It is our pupils aim to finish their compulsory courses with the best results and they can lay the path of their further studies. But it does not have to be a sweaty work, rather a pleasant way of acquiring information. It is our aim to create a pleasant atmosphere where the children like to be and like to learn through playful activities which helps their learning without realizing the actual learning process. By implementing the methology “Learning through Play”, the project encouraged experiential learning and the development of social skills through play.<< Objectives >>At the time of planning the project we thought of several goals we wanted to reach. First of all we planned such activities which were realized by the pupils upon their interest and not as a must which had to be done. This way they could choose such tasks which caused them feel comfortable during implementation. At the same time we wanted them to get familiar with as much information as they can without pushing them or making them feel to be compulsory. We also wanted to involve talented pupils and those who have learning difficulties as well. They learnt several information during playful activities which helped them develop their skills and competencies such as mother and foreign language, ICT and manual skills, their vocabulary extended and their social skills developed the most. On the other hand we wanted to get familiar with each others’ best practices so that we can widen our teaching methods to try out with our children. Those students who actively took part in the implementation of the different activities could strengthen in their studies and got better results in their marks.<< Implementation >>To our greatest pleasure we carried out all the activities planned in the application phase of the project. We widened the project website to inform others about the happenings in our project and related materials were uploaded frequently. Children made interviews with their older relatives about what they had played in their childhood. Then they created presentations about the results. The pupils also introduced after a research what was characteristic for their nation regarding children games in the four part of the year. Our students presented own games and learnt those received from their pals from abroad. There was a logo plan competition and a vote for the best which symbolizes the topic of the programme. For Christmas they made postcards and sent to each other and at the same time they created toys and organizes toy collecting for the poor and ill children. Experts talked about toy making and folk toys. Kids presented toy inventors from own culture. We also visited toy factories which amazed the pupils. They planned several toys – future, board game and recycled ones. They talked about their favourite games/toys. Teachers presented developing toys and collected apps for future use.<< Results >>In our project we can find intellectual outputs as well as concrete palpable products. If we think of project products there are several of them reflecting the pupils’ actual mental condition and creativity. They created a numerous number of toys, postcards pictures and we can find virtual ones such as videos about their work, presentations about their favourite games/toys, and of course we can also find a mixture of them, such as the future toys, which first were planned on computers and then they were printed out by 3D printers or assembled by hand. There are also outputs which led to the development of the pupils involved in the project activities. They learnt to work together which will support them in their work as adults. Their creativity, manual skills developed which also will help them during their professions. They talked to each other (classmates and foreign friends) which deleped their social skills, cooperation, mother and foreign language skills. Their vocabulary increased which means they can express themselves in a varied way. Those children who do not excel in their studies became self-conscious as they realized that what they had done is accepted and used on an international level which they can be proud of.