GAME DESIGN AND CHILDREN AT PLAY: DOVENTE’S MUSES

3 weeks

Week 1: Brainstorming, collaboration, mural viewing

Week 2: Game Design

Week 3: Student presentations

1. What role does creativity play in game design?
2. How can we, like Dovente muses, turn simple materials into a game?
3. What other ways can we use art to represent the joy of play and the power of imagination?

Students will be able to… design and create games, collaborate in small groups and explore artistic design, strategy, and the joy of play.

Create, Present, Respond, Connect

Building inspiration from learning about the mural artist, Dovente, and understanding his work depicting children at play.

• Week 1: Inspiration and brainstorming/planning
  • Introduce students to Dovente and his work, ask students to think about games they have played, the games cannot be something they played using technology. Have them think of board games or games they made up with their imagination and if they used any materials to help with the game they created.
  • Have students group up in groups of 4 or 5 and discuss board games and what components go into a board game. What makes a board game enjoyable?
  • Each group will brainstorm themes, the goal of the board game and game mechanics, using other games they have played as inspiration.
  • Sketch out a rough draft of what their game will look like and create rules for their game
  • They will also test their game to see how efficient their design is.
• Week 2: Game board and piece creations
  • Using Model magic, the students will also create game pieces for each player/group member, each piece must be painted using acrylic paint after the model magic has been set to dry for a day.
  • Using poster boards, students will start making their finalized boards implementing any adjustments they made after their play test.
  • Students will add details/decorative elements to their board to emphasize the theme of their game.
• Week 3: Finalizing our games and Final play tests (Entering each other’s universes through play!)
  • Students will finish up their boards and game pieces.
  • Do one final playtest within their groups
  • Each group will present their board games and talk about the themes and objective/goal of their game.
  • The groups will then swap their board with another group and using a rubric will play and review another groups board game as a peer critique.

Flexible grouping, peer support, brainstorming templates

1. Large poster board
2. Construction paper
3. Markers
4. Colored pencils
5. Rulers
6. Scissors
7. Glue Sticks
8. Card Stock
9. Model Magic
10. Acrylic Paint

Composition

Color theory

Contrast

Balance

Form

Space

Theme

Mechanics

Prototype

Collaboration

Reflection

Brainstorming, playtesting, peer critique

https://dovente.com/art-gallery

Kids Art Challenge – Invent a Board Game!