Planet Play: Designing a Game for Children to Promote Environmental Awareness

Abstract

Due to a progressive deterioration of our planet and its resources, environmental education has become crucial and children should be trained to understand environmental issues at an early age so they can cultivate positive change in the future. Children attending Alberta-based schools are introduced to ecological conservation issues in the fourth grade through an inquiry-based, activelearning curriculum. This study combines research in child development & educational strategies with environmentally related issues into a game that promotes active learning. Data for the study is gathered in a qualitative manner, introducing child participants to existing environmental games and collecting their feedback into graphic organizers. A prototype of an environmental education game that combines various styles of play will then be designed based on the gathered data. The game aims to explore concepts, scenarios, and strategies of environmental preservation, encouraging children to become active participants in preserving the planet and promoting environmentally responsible behavior.

EcoAction Mobile App: A Game Practice for Eco-activist

“…It helps individuals understand the desperate need to take drastic steps to avoid damaging the environment [1,2] and repair the damage done by human beings. Knowledge encourages environmental improvement and promotes irreplaceable resource management [3]. Today, video games are getting increasingly popular, and they are providing players with a clear interpretation of the game's storyline [4].…”

Storytelling and remote-sensing playful interventions to foster biodiversity awareness

“…Moreover, games can be effective in fostering awareness (e.g., De Jans et al, 2017). Several studies investigated how to use games to foster urgent social challenges awareness, such as environmental preservation, energy saving, CO2 emission reduction, to name a few, in order to achieve climate change mitigation (Wu and Lee, 2015;Bang et al, 2006;Goncharova, 2012).…”

The engaging of early age children in environmental behavior through wayang kancil folktale

“…The ignorance towards waste is the problem of the whole world. According to Goncharova (2012), environmental education for early age children is very important because it improves the quality of the planet. The damages caused by waste are the damaged ozone layer that triggers global warming, water pollution that threatens animal's genetics and reproduction, and metal emission that affects the health of all living things (Darmono, 2010).…”

“…Littering behavior reduction programs could be taught and given to the children through activities that involve the teacher as a role model in the learning process. The teacher has aims to explore concepts, scenarios, and strategies of environmental preservation, encouraging children to become active participants in preserving the planet and promoting environmentally responsible behavior (Goncharova, 2012). Kos et al (2016) emphasize the support and interactions from adults are necessary to bridge the gap between experience and knowledge construction, and new comprehension on early age.…”