Today and yesterday were the first day of the new academic year for some of our students. For the first couple of days our students are on a special timetable from the rest of the academic year while they go through induction activities.
For my part of the induction process I like to use boards games.The games I usually use are Love Letter (Hobbit, Batman and Loot Letter) and also Resistance.
My first session with some level two students. For this I had the students play Love Letter with the winner on each table getting a prize (a McD Luigi toy from their current promotion, a Lego Minifig Mirkwood Elf, or a Lego Minifig TMNT).
The next session I had was a double session with some level three students. I started off with a Love Letter “tournament” for the first half, using more of the same prizes from the morning.
Then for the second session one group played Resistance while the other group played Bang! the Dice Game.
This morning for another level three double session (different group), they had the same Love Letter “tournament” followed by Resistance (I had managed to borrow a second copy for today).
About two or three of the two level three groups play a CCG of some type (yes Magic was the most popular). While the rest weren't really gamers.
However from all the groups it was evident that they had a good time playing the games. In fact one in his lunch break today went to the LGS and bought a copy of Loot Letter. Wow! he went with that version because he liked the none gloss cards better.
The nice thing was the last session today I was able to play a game of Loot Letter myself with the students. Which was great fun. I also quickly taught the ones I played Loot Letter how to play Sushi Go. Although we didn't have time to play a full game.
The students were interacting with each other, which is why I had chosen these games. The games broke the ice and gave them an enjoyable break from the other induction activities. Win, win in my book.
Plus I think we have some gamers (both video and board) so we might be able to get a gaming society going for the students.
Posted by me using my iPad and the Blogsy app