Gamification in Kindergarten

May 31, 2019

I am sure you have all heard the complaining about gamification of just about everything! Gamification basically refers to applying the concept of a game (i.e., rules and winning) to activities that generally do not include gaming elements, such as shopping, weight loss, or online dating. Although it is not always a good thing, gamification does make things that can be hard more fun and research shows people may persist longer in difficult activities when a game element is added!

Mr. Sam added a game to a simple sentence reading activity. The students only compete with themselves as they work to beat their own previous scores. Notice how the student is also having a choice in which sentence to read in the column selected. Choice increases motivation and the game element provides a surprise element and a score to beat. Our students love games like this!