We made a Board Game that teaches about Climate Change
Before getting to know about the Board Game, let’s have a brief idea about Climate Change.
About Climate Change-
Climate change is basically the change in usual weather patterns found in a place. It could range anywhere from a change in the amount of rain in an area, change in temperature or change in snowfall in an area. The average temperature of The Earth has increased by about 1 degree in the last 100 years. It has caused snow and ice to melt and increase the rise in sea levels, increased extreme weather events, reduced productivity of harvests, loss of wildlife and biodiversity and many more.
Human activity is the main cause of it. Rapid Industrialization, burning of fossil fuels, intensive agricultural practices, deforestation, pollution. Greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere from these practices due to which the temperature of The Earth increases and hence causes in overall warming of The Earth.
Climate affects almost every aspect of our lives, including food sources,
the clothes that we wear, the accessibility of clean water, or where we decide to go on a holiday. By enlightening ourselves and others about climate change, it allows them to be able to make a change for the environment.
Getting more people aware of Climate change and its effects gives us a chance to make a huge difference.
About the Board Game-
I and my friend E. Jagadeeswar Patro came across a Sustainable Design Challenge initiated by YfS and WUD in which we had to design or give a clear objective to our model or product that creates a change in people. So we thought of a board game for children and its sole purpose was to create awareness about climate change. It teaches them the right and wrong things done in daily life that affects our climate. And we named it- The Eco-Game.
We submitted the idea by preparing the designs of the game. Our idea was liked and we got the consolation title and got funded by YfS and we were able to produce the game.
The Procedure of the Game-
There are 100 steps between the Start and Endpoint. Each player rolls the die to move forward containing 30 cards of 2 types- Merit and Demerit. When a player’s game piece lands on a step that contains a special symbol, he picks up a card and acts accordingly- If it's a merit card, move forward and if it's a demerit card, move back. The first player to reach the end wins.
Examples of merit cards- You stopped a tap with running water hence u conserved water, which is a good thing hence u move some steps forward. And for demerit- You threw plastic bags on the road that can create pollution and even harm animals, which is a bad thing hence you move certain steps back.
Purpose of the Game-
The purpose of creating this game was to build awareness about climate change, as a lot of grown-ups are unaware of it, due to which they do not take simple steps to bring a change even on an individual level. Hence, making young minds aware of this helps them to understand, be responsible about it which empowers them with the knowledge and attitudes required to act as agents of bringing small changes.
Thoughts on the Game-
The game can be simply explained by Karma- If you do the right thing you go ahead if you do the wrong thing you go back and ultimately kids will learn about the right and wrongs of their deeds that affect our climate.
Moreover, to make the game as sustainable as possible we used old buttons for game pieces, old newspapers to contain the dice, game pieces and cards.
The Donation Drive-
Last month, YfS arranged a Village Immersion trip to Similiapal Biosphere, Odisha. Various activities were planned among which one of them was to gather some children around, play and donate some of the board games to them so that they get to learn about climate change as well. Before the trip, we completed the design of the board by creating some changes like translating everything on the board and cards from English to Odia so the children can read them, then we printed it and we were ready to go.
On the 2nd day of the trip, We went to a village near Baskitala, Odisha gathered some kids around to play with them. But before that, to make them comfortable, we had an ice-breaking session where we talked about climate and why it is changing, and even had a QnA session to understand how much they were aware of their environment. It felt good to see how enthusiastic those kids were and their awareness about their forest so well. After the session, we donated some of the boards there.
Most of them didn’t know Odia, which is the common language spoken in Odisha but for the kids in the village, their main language was actually Santhali. Hence, we gifted only the 4 original players who were able to learn Odia and the rest were left with Sanjukta Ma’am, the chairperson of Sangram organization. So we gave the rest of the boards to her so that the children can take them from her after they learn how to read Odia.
It really raised the levels of my happiness after the session and as Scientists believe, that altruistic behaviour releases endorphins in the brain, producing the positive feeling known as the “Helper’s high”, I could not agree more.
Up for Sale-
After returning back from the trip, We launched The Eco-Game and now it is up for sale. You can order yours now.
And remember when you order one game, you are actually buying two as for Every order you make, We donate one to an Underprivileged child.
Link — https://bit.ly/shopecogame
(AS OF 2022 WE ARE NOT SELLING ANYMORE)
