Although this current digital era impulses us into creating interactive and user-friendly content that can both stimulate learning and entertain us at the same time, there are still some “old school” visionaries out there that are creating board games with the purpose to teach science. And is that a bad thing?

Games are a very powerful learning tool, encouraging players to develop communication and cooperation skills, which helps to develop critical thinking. By being involved in a fun activity, both children and adults are more willing to learn about a subject, even if that subject is science. A further advantage is that playing a board game can lead to higher long-term knowledge retention when compared to traditional classroom lectures according to this study.

Are there any scientific games available?

There are multiple scientific board games focusing on chemistry, microbiology and  even physics. These games can be used in a classroom or to entertain the whole family and are designed for children of all ages. Elizabeth Hargrave recently invented a bird themed board game for animal lovers. In the game, each player has the role of a bird watcher and must collect birds, ultimately deciding their fate.

In Portugal, you may be able to find scientific board games and other types of educational toys for children, including the activity books that Scite – Science Communication developed for Oceanário, which are available in their store.

But the fun doesn’t end here, these are just some examples. There are other games and companies that aren’t mentioned here. And if you didn’t find what you are looking for, you can always ask us to create your own scientific board game.

So, you want to create your game….

As scientific knowledge is evolving so fast and has such a strong impact in our everyday lives, it is important to stimulate scientific learning whether on a digital platform or with an old school family game. As a game creator or a science communicator, you can never go wrong with a scientific game. Whichever your choice may be, Scite will be here to help you create educational content that can be implemented into any type of scientific game. Sent us an e-mail to find out how.