Gaming learning activities

Activities and resources to support pupils in making the connection between gaming and stories. 

We have also included advice and links to support teachers and librarians if you are planning to set up a games or gaming club in school.

Useful links for all gaming events

• For exploring the theme of play and games more generally, Play Scotland(this link will open in a new window) offers a variety of resources exploring the importance of play, playing outdoors and activities to get children playing together. You could also use some of their activities and games to inspire creative writing inspired by play, thinking about questions such as: how does it feel to play? What is my earliest memory of playing? What might my, or a character's, favourite game be and why?
• ACMI(this link will open in a new window) is a museum of screen culture based in Australia. They have some great and interesting lesson plans about videos and gaming as well as advice on using games in the classroom to support learning.
• The National Videogame Museum(this link will open in a new window) and the charity BGI(this link will open in a new window) which run and support it are two other organisations that support gaming in the UK. They have lots of information on their websites about the importance of gaming and are great to share with pupils to allow them to explore and learn more.
• For exploring game creation, The Gaming Jam(this link will open in a new window) is great for starting conversations about digital game creation. The Gaming Jam is the largest gaming creation event and is taking place on 20–30 January 2022. You can explore the different locations around the world that are involved and discuss the process of intense game creation across a short period of time. What are the benefits? What are the drawbacks? What might the end result look like?

Setting up a gaming club

• Warhammer Alliance(this link will open in a new window) has a lot of great resources to support new clubs and club leaders. It also has advice for beginners, perfect for those new to Warhammer and using Warhammer in gaming.
• For those new to role play games, there are some great YouTube videos(this link will open in a new window) available to show how to play games such as Dungeons and Dragons.
• Scottish Book Trust created The Book Shop role playing game (this link will open in a new window)for Book Week Scotland 2021. This is another great game to introduce those new to gaming, or to entice pupils to know more. It is a simplified version of many role playing games, and doesn't require any dice. It's an ideal starting point.
• Girls Who Code(this link will open in a new window) has some great resources and advice for setting up a club that is focused on coding and the behind-the-scenes of gaming.

The Door Problem

Gamers often use something called 'the door problem' to explain the complexities of game creation, and the huge amount of people who are involved in something that seems as simple as opening a door. However, in the virtual world interacting with a door and opening it can become much more complicated. This issue is explored in our event with Ross Edwards and Rockstair North(this link will open in a new window).

• This article on the door problem(this link will open in a new window) explores the issue in detail. The questions posed are great for sharing with pupils and encouraging discussion before or after the event.
• This YouTube video on the door problem(this link will open in a new window) gives a good introduction. It shows a variety of clips from video games to illustrate the problem visually. This video does contain some references to violence within the game play and bleeped-out swearing so may only be appropriate for older pupils. We recommend that you watch this content before sharing it with your pupils.