Nutrition GAMES: Process
Step 1: the grand idea
The inspiration for these projects came from the necessity of nutrition education in children starting from a young age. The following is a process story of two separate nutrition games.
Nutrition Mission Home Screen
The first game, Nutrition Mission, is for children aged 3-5 years. In a Ted Talk titled “Teach every child about food”, Jamie Oliver talks about how a group of kindergartners he talked to did not know specific fruits and vegetables. This game introduces children to the different food groups, including fruits and vegetables, in a fun and simple way.
Dr. Smoothie Home Screen
The second game, Dr. Smoothie, is for adolescents aged 10-13 years. During this time, kids are developing the independence to purchase their own food at lunchtime in school or while hanging out with their friends. They are also going through a number of bodily changes. Building up an understanding of beneficial vitamins and minerals is an essential part of preparing them for making smart dietary decisions!
Step 2: the impactful design
In order to effectively design these games, they had to convey the learning objectives as well as be appropriately engaging for the intended audience.
Food groups pie chart- Nutrition Mission
A major learning goal in Nutrition Mission was the food groups. To turn this into a gamified visual, our team made it into a pie chart with a quantifiable “goal number” of foods. Players traveled down a road and had to collect the right number of food.
Scene setup- Dr. Smoothie
In Dr. Smoothie, different foods represented specific nutrients, and players had to create a smoothie that contained all the nutrients their customers (of different ages and needs) required.
Step 3: the tangible visual
This is the final game document for Dr. Smoothie that outlines learning objectives and game mechanics. At the bottom, there is a short description of “Let’s Get Fit” games.