Games about culture are the topic of our blog post today!
Google Arts & Culture is one of the best cultural resources I have been recommending for teaching and parents over the years. The platform hosts a treasure trove of knowledge that enable learners to step out of the confines of their classrooms and immerse themselves in a diverse and globally-informed learning journey.
In an earlier post here in Educators Technology, I covered the myriad opportunities Google Arts & Culture presents to enrich cultural literacy among students. I highlighted 10 practical and engaging ways in which students can tap into this valuable resource. Today, I am eager to zero in on one specific, and arguably highly effective, method – the use of game-based learning to enhance cultural awareness.
When it comes to learning, nothing beats games. They drive students engagement, keep them focused, and enhance their motivation. Google Arts & Culture has a section featuring a wide variety of interesting games about culture that you can use with your students.
These games serve as brilliant tools to pique curiosity, encourage exploration, and deepen understanding about various aspects of art and culture. Below, you’ll find more details about these cultural games. But before that, let’s first talk about the importance of introducing students to games about culture.
Importance of Cultural Games
Games about culture play a critical role in enhancing students educational experience in several key ways:
- Engagement and Interest: Incorporating games into the learning process can significantly increase students’ engagement levels. The interactive nature of games, with their scoring systems, rewards, and visual storytelling elements, can make learning about culture a fun and exciting experience, thereby stimulating greater interest in the subject matter.
- Deeper Understanding: Games often involve problem-solving activities that require a deep understanding of the rules, context, and the scenario being presented. This immersive learning can enable students to comprehend cultural contexts, practices, and history in a more nuanced and personal way.
- Practical Application: Games allow students to apply what they’ve learned in practical scenarios. For instance, students might use their knowledge of a specific culture to interact with its virtual representations in a game, thereby reinforcing their understanding.
- Empathy and Perspective-taking: Cultural games can help students step into the shoes of people from other cultures, broadening their perspectives and enhancing their empathy. This can foster greater cultural sensitivity and respect for diversity.
- Memory Retention: The active participation required in games can help improve memory retention. Information learned in the course of gameplay is often better remembered than information delivered in more traditional, passive forms of learning.
- Cross-Cultural Communication Skills: Many cultural games encourage communication and collaboration among players. This can enhance students’ ability to communicate effectively with people from diverse cultural backgrounds, a skill that is increasingly important in our globally connected world.
Cultural Games
Here is a list of the best games about culture from Google Arts & Culture:
1- What Came First
An interactive game where students pick which comes first. The faster students answer, the more points they get. Students are provided with two visual prompts and are asked to click on the one that is chronologically older.
These visual prompts come in different forms including: pictures of artists, architectural symbols, museums, inventors, and many more. Once students choose an answer they can then scroll down to read more on the visual prompts.
2- Cultural Crosswords
A game which helps students develop their cultural literacy through word puzzles. Crosswords are arranged into four main categories: Arts, Around the World, Science and Technology, Fashion, and Nature. Students can choose to play crosswords in each of these categories or play those featured in the weekly crosswords section.
Once they select the crossword they want to play they can click on Clues to start filling up the crossword. When students click on a clue they can view detailed information about it on Google Arts & Culture.
3- Puzzle Party
Students work in pairs or individually to solve artistic jigsaw puzzles. There are hundreds of artworks students can play. The process is simple and easy: First students select the artwork they want to play.
They can click on ‘Learn More’ to access more information about the artwork in Google Arts & Culture. Next, they choose whether they want to play the jigsaw game solo or with others. For the latter option, a unique code is generated to share with others.
4- Visual Crosswords
This game enables students to learn more about arts and culture through unexpected pairings. For instance, to learn more about Art Movements, students are provided with two columns and are asked to drag artworks to boxes anywhere they match the labels. If they are not familiar with a particular artwork they can click on Learn More to read about it on Google Arts and Culture.
5- Art Coloring Book
A game that lets students color their way ‘through the palettes of famous paintings’. To start playing it, they need to choose an artwork then use the provided tools to colour and customize it the way they want.
Once completed, they can download their artwork or share it with others on social media or through a generated link. There is also the option to print out coloring books so students can work on them offline.
Final thoughts
From “What Came First” to “Art Coloring Book,” each of the featured culture games has been crafted not just to educate but to captivate, turning every click and puzzle piece into a conversation with history and culture. Whether through the immediacy of a timed quiz or the contemplative pace of a crossword, students are invited to a dance of learning that’s both intuitive and insightful.
