Year 3 Forces Fair features arcade-style game creation 

Prep School faculty Kate Barrett and Kathryn O’Brien collaborated with Joanna Martin, the Primary Years Programme (PYP) design teacher, and Kathy Tran, design technologist, to help students follow the steps in the design cycle to make their games: define, imagine/plan, create, test, improve and share. 

“Students had a chance to pick one of the forces or more using the materials we provided, such as cardboard, popsicle sticks, glue, marbles and pipe cleaners,” says Barrett. 

Once they had conceptualized, tested and modified their games, the Year 3s shared them with Prep students and families at the second annual Forces Fair. They made tickets, signs and passes, and invited everyone to enjoy themselves.

“Half of our students stayed at the booths while the other half played the games; then they switched,” says Barrett. “They were so excited to present their games to the UCC community, and everyone had a blast.”

Families came prepared to inquire about the games and ask the students about the materials they used and what worked and what didn’t during the process. Barrett notes that it was obvious the students had given real thought to the forces, the design process and making their games fun. 

One of the games, for example, was Pokémon Ball, which required the players to throw a ball into the hole of a cardboard cutout designed with the face of a Pokémon character. Principal Sam McKinney tried his hand at Slam Dunkers, a game that incorporated gravity by requiring the player to aim balls at a target.

“For the students, to be able to work collaboratively, solve problems and modify their games was a really good experience,” says Barrett. “Ms. O’Brien and I are proud of the exceptional job they did.”

O’Brien adds, “The biggest part of the Forces Fair was not visible at the fair: all of their work modifying the games. Many games went through lots of iterations. Students were building, testing and modifying all week. I was proud of their ingenuity and resilience when their designs didn’t work and they had to rebuild.”