Design a Game Board

Submitted by: Linda Fields, Eastern Guilford High School, Gibsonville, NC.
Unit: Art History - Product Design
Grade level: Middle School through High School

See example of board game - Student project. Also see free game boards from the Jefferson County Schools.

Activity to do before or after this lesson: Have students play one or more of these art games:

Modern Art - Players compete to gain the most money by buying and selling paintings at auctions and reselling them for profit.

Picture Pursuit - Teams answer questions in classic trivia categories to earn clues to picture and word puzzles. Give the right answer... open another door. When you've seen enough, guess the solution - and earn a chip.

Masterpiece - The Art Auction Game - This is the famous classic art game.

Dutch Golden Age - In The Dutch Golden Age the players try to amass victory points in a variety of fields (arts, culture, trade, etc.). The first player who accumulates 33 points is the overall winner.

Pictionary Man Game To Go - The hit Pictionary Man game that combines the fun of drawing and charades is now available in a to go version.

Summary:

Students design board games based on either a particular artist or style/school of art. They must come up with questions and their answers, design and make the board, write directions, create the game pieces, and then teach another group how to play it.

You will work in groups of 2 to design a board game based on either:

• The life and work of one artist, or

• A movement or time period in art (e.g., the Renaissance, Impressionism, etc.)

To do this, you will need to research your topic thoroughly enough to come up with questions to be answered (and you will need to know the answers). Use MORE than the internet. You will need to document your resources.

Do this:
1. Choose partners. Determine your theme and how your game will be played; 1 day
2. Research your theme; 2 days
3. Brainstorm ideas for the layout of the board and how the game will be played; 1 day
4. Create a rough draft of the board on paper; 2 days
5. Create the final board using the criteria below: 4 days

The final game board will be done on Mat board cut to 20" x 24" (51 x 61 cm). Squares or other shapes used around the outer edge or to create pathways should be no smaller than 2" x 2" (5 x 5 cm). All lettering must be neat, consistent in size and style, and easy to read. Rules for the game should be easy to understand, typed, and mounted on Tag board. Question cards will be made of tag board and should be no smaller than 2" x 4" (5 x 10 cm). A place for the cards should be included on your board. You will need to decide what to use as the players' token pieces and find or create them. They should somehow relate to your theme. I will provide the dice, or you may create a wheel to spin to determine turns. Color will be an important component. Use Colored Pencils or another material that will not warp your board.

6. Create the question cards and game pieces. Type and mount the rules. 2 days
7. Play the game yourselves; work out any "bugs:" 1 day
8. Teach another team to play it. 1 day (same day as #7)
9. Evaluate the games. 1 day

EVALUATION FOR DESIGN-A - GAME

Topic________________________________Designers______________________________

resources documented/accurate info.- 15 pts_________

squares 2" x 2" (5 x 5 cm) or more - 5pts.___________

lettering neat, consistent, legible - 10 pts.____________

rules-understandable, typed, mounted on tag board -15 pts.__________

question cards-size, tag board, appropriate - 10 pts. _______________

token pieces - 5 pts. ______________

craftsmanship- 20 pts. _________________

playability- 20 pts. _______________

Of course, the rubric could be adjusted to reflect the objectives of your lesson. We were working on craftsmanship and following directions as much as anything. The objectives were taken from the NC Std. Course of Study but you could use your own.