The Sustainability Game

This week we were challenged to create a game for children that will teach them about sustainability and the environment.

My concept is called The Enviro-Home.

It's an online point-and-click game. The children are challenged to find the 'eco-problems' in each room of the house and the garden. There's a specific number of problems to be found in each room, and the children need to find all of the problems before the timer runs out. The children will not be able to move onto the next room until they complete the challenge. When all of the problems have been pointed out, the timer will stop and the children will be able to hover their mouse over each of the problem areas to read about solutions to that particular eco-problem before moving onto the next set of challenges.
Some of these solutions will ask the children which option they think is the most environmentally friendly.
Through this avenue, the game will educate the children about a variety of environmentally friendly choices that can be made at home - reduce/reuse/recycle, composting and mulching, smart electricity choices, saving water, gardening with greywater, cooling/heating the house naturally, environmentally friendly soaps and detergents, and replacing the disposable with the reusable.

Target Audience:

The game is aimed at primary school children; confident readers, familiar with the use of a computer, minor background knowledge of environmental issues. The game would work well in an educational context, or at home after a discussion about recycling/reusing/reducing. Children should be encouraged to explore and enjoy the game on their own, before rejoining the class group or the family for a follow-up discussion. 

Examples of Eco-Problems and Solutions:

Problem: Plastic shopping bags
Solution: Reusable fabric bags

Problem: Bath water going down the drain
Solution: Siphon the water out the window and into the garden

Problem: Clothes in the dryer on a sunny day
Solution: Hang clothes out on the washing line

Problem: Food scraps thrown in the bin
Solution: Food scraps composted for the garden

Problem: Paper and plastics thrown into the rubbish
Solution: Paper and plastics sorted and recycled appropriately