Gemma found the business and unpredictability of Primary School a little overwhelming. The number of other children would distract her from concentrating, but also wear her out by the end of the day.She had always enjoyed making collections of things. Whether this was different leaves after a walk or organising her toys into groups, she would often be found off by herself creating an ordered world.Video games weren't something she did a lot (and still doesn't). But for a time they helped her engage with learning in a way that was more ordered and less overwhelming. Whether it was the bird spotting of Alba or the insect collecting of Paradise Marsh, she would persevere at these tasks that often led to unexpected related work in reading, writing and maths.
Outcome Understanding and applying the science of categorisation.
This outcome arises from the following 4 milestones over the span of 2 years, from 10 - 12 years-old:
Age: 10-years-old / 01/01/2020 / 3 years ago
Play Styles: Child Plays Independently (Independent Play)
Platform: iOS
Gemma enjoyed playing Adopt Me. Rather than focusing on the most valuable and rare pets, she focused on creating a large collecting of the different animals you could care for in the game. This led to her keeping a notebook of the different creatures she had owned.
Age: 11-years-old / 07/11/2021 / 2 years ago
Play Styles: Co-Op Local and Child Plays Independently (Independent Play)
Platform: Xbox One
Gemma found the structure of Moonglow Bay an ideal place for her to enjoy collecting things, in this case it was fish. She enjoyed how the game not only kept a record of what she had caught but what the size, weather, location and type of hook she had used.
Age: 12-years-old / 03/04/2022 / 20 months ago
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Gemma enjoyed tracking down the different insects in Paradise Marsh. This led to her making notes about the different locations and times-of-day that these little creatures were found. In addition to the notes in the game itself, this led to Gemma reading up on insect life-cycles and habitats.
Activities: Gemma found that the following related activities worked alongside playing Paradise Marsh:
Age: 12-years-old / 10/10/2022 / 14 months ago
Gemma wanted to record the different plants she found in The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild. Although there was a list in the game itself it wasn't ordered. After some research she discovered the taxonomy approach and set about identifying and listing the plants into Mosses, Liverworts, Hornworts, Horsetails, Ferns, Conifers, Ginkgo and Flowering plants.
Activities: Gemma found that the following related activities worked alongside playing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild:
The culmination of the milestones in the pathway led to Gemma understanding and applying the science of categorisation. We have described it as a linear journey, but of course, there is always a fair amount of back and forth between the games they played.
Along with the main outcome Gemma also changed in the following ways:
We focus on how games contribute to this outcome, but also include related activities that play a part of this journey:
Pathway Details
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