Jungle maths game scoops award for innovation

A Jungle Adventure won the award for Innovation in Learning at the Standard Life Edinburgh Achievement Awards 2005 at The Hub in November.

Councillor Rev Ewan Aitken, executive member for Children and Families, said, “I think the Jungle Adventure board game is a great idea. One of the brilliant things about it is that it helps kids learn without even knowing they are learning.”

The project, which was supported by CLAN and funded by Clydesdale Bank, was developed by the Family Learning Parents’ Group at Brunstane Primary School.

Amanda MacKinnon, one of the parents from the school, said, “We got the idea for the game from a trip to the zoo. We wanted a children’s game based on the jungle which would be fun as well as educational”.

Barbara Middleton, a family learning worker based in east Edinburgh, said, “The game is for four to seven-year olds and was created by our group to encourage kids to explore their understanding of numeracy in an enjoyable way.

“The children move multi-cultural figures across the board, finding answers to the maths related activity cards and the winner reaches the jungle party at the end. It’s not just about concentrating on adding sums but about observing other mathematical concepts such as quantity, shape and difference as well. The children retain the information from the game because it is very visually stimulating and actively engaging.”

Trophy and prize
The numeracy game scooped a trophy and £500 prize for Brunstane Primary School, Family Learning Parents’ Group.

Barbara said, “We are over the moon that we have won this prize, we had a great launch and there are going to be so many people delighted with this award.
“We would like to use the prize fund to produce more sets of the game, initially to give to schools in Niddrie and Craigmillar, then look to secure further funding to possibly enable every primary one class in Edinburgh schools to have a copy”.

For further details about the project email: barbara.middleton@educ.edin.gov.uk

Awards celebrate success
Launched six years ago, The Standard Life Edinburgh Awards celebrate projects that demonstrate best practice and innovation throughout the Children and Families Department at The City of Edinburgh Council.