Easy & Simple Indoor Activities to HAVE FUN! (1)

I am pro technology, but children need to develop many other skills than playing computer games or apps... that´s why I decided to share some games with you without using TV, computers, smartphones, or any other digital devices.

As a PreK teacher I know that children always want to play and have fun. However, we can´t find so many games to offer them without spending so much money.

Pop-corn race/Carrera de palomitas

Materials/Materiales:

- straws/pajitas o popotes
- tape/cinta
- popcorn/palomitas

Instructions/Instrucciones:

With the use of straws we blow pop-corns to win our race on the dinning table. We can use the tape to limit our lanes. You can add obstacles when you master the simple races, it will be so much fun! 
Ready, Set, GO!

Con el uso de las pajitas/popotes soplamos las palomitas para ganar nuestra carrera en una mesa. Podemos usar cita para marcar los límites de nuestro camino. Puedes añadir obstáculos (platos, vasos,...) cuando domines las carreras simples, será muy divertido.
¡Preparados, listos, YA!

Movies/Películas

Materials/Materiales:

No materials are needed/No son necesarios.

Instructions/Instrucciones:

Distribute the participants in two teams. One members of the team -in this case a child- thinks about a movie and tells it to the members of the opposing team with mimic for a minute. If after this time s/he has not succeeded, the opposing team scores a point. 

3, 2, 1...Action!

Se hacen dos equipos. Uno de los miembros del equipo  -en este caso un niño/a- piensa en una película y se les cuenta al otro equipo. Solo se puede usar la mímica (no palabras) por un minuto. Si el tiempo se acaba y no lo han acertado, el equipo contrario gana un punto.

3, 2, 1... ¡Acción!

Pictionary

Materials/Materiales:

- Paper/papel
- pencil/lápiz

Instructions/Instrucciones:

Similar to the former activity: Movies. Distribute the participants in two teams. One member of the teams -in this case a child- thinks about something and tells it to the members of the opposing team with drawings for a minute. If after this time s/he has not succeeded, the opposing team scores a point. 

Guess!

Parecido a la actividad anterior: Películas. Se hacen dos equipos. Uno de los miembros del equipo -en este caso un niño/a- piensa en una cosa y se les cuenta al otro equipo. Solo se puede usar dibujos (no palabras) por un minuto. Si el tiempo se acaba y no lo han acertado, el equipo contrario gana un punto.

¡Adivina!

Who is who?/¿Quién es quién?

Materials/Materiales:

- Pictures/fotos

Instructions/Instrucciones:

Distribute the participants in two teams and pictures of the family to each team. One member of the teams -in this case a child- chooses a picture and the members of the opposing team asks questions to guess who´s in the picture. If after this time s/he has not succeeded, the opposing team scores a point. 

Guess who!

Se hacen dos equipos y se reparten fotos de la familia a cada equipo. Uno de los miembros del equipo -en este caso un niño/a- elige una foto y miembros del otro equipo deben adivinar de quién se trata. Si el tiempo se acaba y no lo han acertado, el equipo contrario gana un punto.

¡Adivina quién!

Who am I?/¿Quién soy?

Materials/Materiales:

- Pictures/fotos

Instructions/Instrucciones:

Similar to the former activity. Distribute the participants in two teams and pictures of the family to each team. One member of the teams -in this case a child- chooses a picture that is stick on his/her back and the members of the same team will help him/her with cues to guess who´s in the picture. If after this time s/he has not succeeded, the opposing team scores a point. 

Guess who!

Parecido a la actividad anterior. Se hacen dos equipos y se reparten fotos de la familia a cada equipo. Uno de los miembros del equipo -en este caso un niño/a- elige una foto y se la coloca en la espalda. Los miembros de su mismo equipo, con algunas claves, les ayudarán a adivinar de quién se trata. Si el tiempo se acaba y no lo han acertado, el equipo contrario gana un punto.

¡Adivina quién!

Espero que en los días de lluvia y nieve te ayuden a pasar un buen rato con tu familia. 
¿Cuál es tu juego favorito?

Why gamification and digital learning in education?

Gamification of Learning

There are many reasons to use games and digital learning in schools. Our students are living in the Society of Information and Knowledge and they are ready to interact with them. They are already born with digital skills since we can see one-or-two-year-old children using smartphones and tablets, they can use their fingers to zoom images and slide pictures,...

In the following presentation Digital Gamification Benefits Presentation (Spanish) you can see all the benefits of Gamification and Digital Learning in Education.

“You create these communities around the game that do an incredible amount of intellectual work, and when they’re done with the work, they will leave the game and go to another game that’s more challenging. Can you imagine if we had that kind of environment in classrooms?” 

Constance Steinkuehler Squire Associate Professor in digital media at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Webminar about Gamification and Education

(free translation)

In this webinar Gamification in education: from technique to methodology, Imma Marín Santiago, tells us how to apply gamification to the education and learning sector. 

In the educational context, gamification can assume the design of tasks and activities using the principles of gameplay. It is about taking advantage of the natural predisposition towards the game to improve the motivation towards learning, the acquisition of knowledge, the transmission of values, the development of competences, etc. 

Games overtake the "chain of failure" by allowing, as part of their design, multiple opportunities to carry out a task to their domain. KARL M. KAPP (Kapp, 2012) 

The gamification approach of some work proposals has been done for a long time as a way of reinforcing concrete learning contents. However, gamification is a new perspective. And if it were feasible to lead all the potential of time and experience of the students in the game towards learning? What if, moreover, we transcend the design of tasks and activities (technique) to put the game at the center of the teaching-learning process (methodology / strategy)? 

In this webinar we will learn to learn the principles of gamification and playing techniques to the education sector, achieving a greater predisposition towards learning by the students.