Hi everyone,
After A1, I was left with more questions. I concluded that to practice mindfulness, the students do not need an app that can be easily removed, deleted or ignored. Further research found that video games promoted mindfulness more than the specific mindfulness apps. I wanted to explore the idea of creating a video game that had educational mindfulness techniques embedded. This game would be played on their mobile device and has immersive properties that are not focused on the classic outcome-based educational game.
This prototype of the first level demonstrates mindfulness while the student plays. An extension to the activity could be for students to develop the next level of the game and incorporate their mindfulness techniques to play on their mobile devices.
So, please have a look at the website. You are welcome to play the game on your phone and try it out. Have a fantastic long weekend, everyone. Be mindful; play a game!
https://kagarratt.wixsite.com/etec523mindful
Hi Kristin,
Amazed that you created a (fun) game just like that!
When I first launched it, I accidentally went into the mindfulness cloud. I tried to escape it at first, but then I realized I hadn’t cleared my head in a while — it helped…
I would love to see more of these “moments” programmed and designed into student activities. I work a lot with exams, and a mindfulness break in the middle of it (with the timer stopped, of course) could really give students an opportunity to reset.
The grade 12 English exam is 3 hours with an additional hour if needed. I look at some of those students who utilize the entire time and are shocked at their stamina. I absolutely believe that if they were given a break at the 1.5 hour mark, they would use their time more efficiently. I don’t understand the idea that they can’t have a recess. What is the intention of 4 hours? Is it to test what they know about the subject or is it to see how tough the students are? It is interesting to wonder about. With mobility, most phones track how much screen time they have used throughout the day. I wonder if phones have better prepared students to focus for longer periods of time?
Hi Kristin! I LOVE the idea of using games for practising mindfulness, especially with kids and teenagers. I know some of my kids might scoff at the idea of using an app devoted to teaching mindfulness but I think they would enjoy games like Calm Down, Kitty! You have shown how well games can work without pretending to be something it is not – the idea of stealth learning is not very appealing to me, however, learning as a by-product to having fun is definitely a plus for me. To this end, I like how you have emphasized immersive experience as a means to learning, in this case mindfulness techniques, rather than focusing on an end goal or objective to be able to do that. Escapism is also a great way to help achieve these goals, and I know that for me books and games definitely do that. The fact that it can be a mobile game instead of an app that I may never use because I may not want to admit to myself that I need it, makes it easier to address the fact that I may need to “Calm Down” 🙂
I also think it is a great idea to have students make the next level of the game (although I do miss working with you and Anne on it!) This is an awesome resource – thank you for sharing, and I know it will prove useful to a larger global audience!
Hi Binal,
I like the phrase “learning as a by-product to having fun.” I feel that sentiment is at the forefront of learning in elementary school, but why can’t it also be implemented in later years? The immersive play can be for all ages because who is to stay that we need to stop playing after 12 years old. I think that play is a good stress relief, and more adults could benefit from gameplay, whether it is a digital-based analogue. Thank you for seeing the value of students taking ownership of their learning to make their mobile game level.
Maybe on a rainy day in August, we can get the gang back together and develop the next level!
Cheers 🙂
I agree; I can see games being very valuable learning experiences for some lessons in Chemistry and although I have not found great digital games, I did sort of make one for one of the topics. After our summer institute, I am going to seriously consider bringing more play into my classes.
I’m totally in for the next level!!
Hi Kristin, Binal, Anne,
I have been laughing my head off as I follow you guys in this course. Yes, in my opinion Calm Down, Kitty is one of the best games among them all 🙂
Ram.
Hi Kristin,
First of all, what an adorable game!
Secondly, I have definitely found that for some students, technology enhanced mindfulness activities help them focus, and I think it makes them less self conscious about their mindfulness practice. I use a lot of the videos available on http://www.gonoodle.com. They are appropriate for elementary aged students and give them something to focus on as they’re breathing.
I’ve also seen lots of ads for, and am intrigued by, Mightier (www.mightier.com). It’s not a perfect fit for a classroom but there are students who I think would benefit from using it at home and learning about mindfulness and emotional regulation.
Thanks for sharing, I found your presentation accessible and easy to navigate and understand.
Hi Megan,
Thanks for sharing those resources. I loved the tagline of GoNoodle “helps tire kids out,” ha! This sounds like a great resource and I will pass it along to my home school families. I think mindfulness is an important aspect for students in education across all years. I have shared this game with adults who have really enjoyed playing it. They have asked if I can build more levels. To which I say, I can help you build another level to add on 🙂
I believe this is an important topic, especially going into September. I believe we need to teach more mobile learning as I anticipate students will be moving from face to face to online at least for a few times this year. I believe flexibility is key as some students really struggled with their change in routines, even at the high school level.
I like that you brought games into this, I do believe that games have a lot to offer students, especially with how they can get some resistant students to buy into an activity. I also like how you touched on the escapism that games can offer students, as that is such an important thing for them to understand, sometimes they just need to get away and have some down time and this can be quite difficult for students who struggle with reading, which can be an excellent way to escape, but for those who struggle to read could get very frustrated. As I went into your game I wasn’t too sure of what to expect or how you would link a game and mindfulness together, but you did. I did enjoy how you allowed the player to lower the stress level with breathing. I could definitely see some of my students in the past using something like this.
Thanks Michael! I am so glad you were able to see the intention of the game and the value of immersive play. Student’s need an escape, you are right about that. You can reduce your stress by going through the mindful breathing instead of losing the life and starting over. I can tell you that testing the code for the mindfulness cloud was a relaxing and frustrating experience. Every time the clouds would move in the wrong direction on a test run, I was forced to take four deep breaths before I was able to go and fix it. You need to run the simulation to test it, so you were forced to practice the techniques. Let me tell you, it really helped. I think students could also benefit from constructing a mobile game. This would increase their connections to their devices when they understand the mechanisms more. Perhaps they will find a new appreciation for them that they didn’t have before.
I love your focus on using games instead of more obvious apps to find mental health benefits. Sometimes we come at self-care from such an obvious angle that we forget that there are benefits to just doing things that are enjoyable and have other benefits mixed into them. It’s like jogging on an elliptical at the gym for 30 minutes because you need to get your heart rate above 150 three times a week versus playing soccer at the park with your friends because it’s fun. Regular soccer at the park will probably also get your heart rate above 150 three times a week, but it gets that health goal done without it being the actual focus of the activity.
Thank you for the analogy, Anne. I think you are right. I have struggled with working out from home since the lockdown. I like the community aspect of going to the gym and I find motivating yourself to change your routine to work out with Apps and youtube does not work for me. Mindfulness apps are a resource to check out, but I don’t see how they can maintain engagement past the first week. The forecast was two-fold. I wanted to solve the problem of short-lived apps by creating a different opportunity to participate in the practice. I also wanted to demonstrate the need for more immersive video games to be incorporated into education. The experience is less about the outcome and more about what can be learned and experienced while playing the game. Thank you for checking it out!
Hi Kristin,
Great work on your project! I really like this idea of not having the option to download or delete an app. A few months ago, I had the MyFitnessPal application on my phone. I used it for a little while I was trying to get my eating habits back on track. But then I noticed that I started to obsess over it. If I didn’t track my calories, I felt guilty, especially when I’d unlock my phone and see the application right there on my screen. I ended up deleting it because I despised that guilty feeling that would arise each time. In the same way, a mindfulness application has the potential to make you feel obliged to use it or feel guilty if you were too busy or forgot to engage in meditation, or simply did not want to that day. It’s nice to be able to access a mindfulness platform when you want to. Thanks for sharing such a cool platform with us. I really enjoyed playing Calm Down, Kitty. I like the calming music that you decided to include. I feel like this game is a good distraction and I can definitely see how it can be used in the classroom to help students self-regulate. It appears to be suitable for younger students as well!
Ravneet, you make such an important point – it can become so easy to beat ourselves up for “failing” to do self-care, but if we’re using something like a fun digital game, it’s a lot harder to feel guilty about not doing it. The self-care is almost a by-product of the game play and not the end in and of itself.
Hi Ravneet, thank you for raising this point. I feel that we do put a lot of pressure on ourselves to stick to a routine and the obligation causes stress even when it is intended to be a stress reducing activity. I think the essence of a mindful practice is to provide tips and tools that can be applied to the daily life and to not lock you in when you feel guilty. I hope this game is good for students of all ages. I think a mindful practice would benefit adults as well. I have to give credit to both Binal and Anne for the compliment on the cool platform. The three of us developed the game and I couldn’t have done it without them.
Hi Kristin, what a great idea and a fun way to keep young students engaged. I have to say, just the name of the game alone had me sold to want to play, everything from the character design to the music and beautifully created scenery had me staying for more. I can see this being very successful. I remember playing another mindfulness game a few months ago but I prefer yours any day. It was a really great idea to capitalize on the engagement and motivating aspects afforded by games into an activity that will be of enormous benefit to so many young students. Fantastic work!
Hi Carla,
Thank you for stopping in to take a look at the research and how mindfulness through games can achieve positive results. It seems like a no-brainer to partake in a relaxing activity to practice mindfulness, but I feel that it has been underutilized in mobile technology. I hope students will also enjoy the immersive experience that the game provides. I hope to incorporate more aspects of gaming into my online courses. I also hope that this mindfulness game can be useful to adults as well.
What awesome work! I love the idea of promoting and normalizing mindfulness as good practice. The game was fun too – the breathing reminders are great. And the pairing game at the end actually took my attention away from playoff hockey, so that’s pretty solid also.
I’d have liked to try my hand at the laundry boss at the end of the level though! It was really satisfying getting that far. It was challenging sometimes jumping from cabinet to cabinet, but the calm music and fluffy cat made it less frustrating than it would have been for me had it been a standard video game.
I will say though that I’d have liked for the game to be a little more front and centre as I had to kinda seek it out. But I’m sure you had reasons for that.
All in all, this was awesome!!
Thank you for checking out the site, Tyler!
Throughout this course, I have tried to focus on mobile education and how to integrate different curriculum areas through student devices. It was the educational games OER that shifted my thinking towards more play and constructivism techniques. I believe mobile learning is underutilized for the creation and play in educational contexts. I am so glad you were able to read through the forecast and found the game. For this presentation, I wanted to make the game a reward of sorts. The student must read through the information, understand the rationale and connect to the intention of mindfulness before they start the experience. This website was intended for educators and colleagues to discover. For student delivery, I would have them play the games on their phones, reflect on their experience, and discuss how they can go further. Perhaps, they can create the next level of the game and brainstorm different mindfulness techniques that can be added to the wellness library for students to play the mini-games.
I am thrilled that you discovered and enjoyed the embedded mindfulness techniques. I hope this was rewarding as well as a relaxing experience. Anne, Binal and I created the game itself. We worked very hard on that game, and all three are passionate about it. I am sharing the game prototype with permission from them.