Game in a Tin!

Age Group: Years 2 – 6
Curriculum Links:
Art & Design: designing the game,
Literacy: Persuasive writing, newspaper report, instructional texts.
ICT: Adverts, PowerPoint
What do I need?
A selection of more unusual tins if possible
Some examples of simple games

Unit Summary

The children are designers for MPA. They are to come up with a new, exciting use of a can / tin, that contains a game, but the container must become an integral part of the game – They must design the game, create adverts and persuasive texts about it and older children create a PowerPoint presentation for their product.

Teacher Information

Metal packaging is a growing industry, not just in the production of food containers, but also in the more creative markets. We are all familiar with the vast array of beautiful tins we can purchase at Christmas with the ‘present’ value of alcohol and biscuits rising if they are presented in a decorated tin. A tin like this lasts many years and most of us have one somewhere in our households. With printing and moulding techniques moving onwards, more elaborate shaped and decorated tins are becoming available and items that wouldn’t usually be presented in a tin are now being seen on our shelves. Products ranging from umbrellas, underwear, watches and phones can now be bought in an attractive tin!

It is on this theme that this unit is based. The children become designers for MPMA, coming up with a new, exciting use of a can / tin that contains a game, the twist being that the container must become an integral part of the game.

Unit Materials

GameInATin_Lesson.doc
DesignBrief_WS1.doc
5InARow_WS2.doc
MediumTin_WS3.doc
TallTin_WS4.doc
WideTin_WS5.doc
GameinaTin_Podcast_ICTAddOn.doc

Extensions and Variations

There are lots of ways of extending this work, particularly within Literacy work in Key Stage 2. Children could use their game as the stimulus for a range of different writing activities:

• Persuasive writing to advertise and sell their product
• Newspaper article about the release of their game in the shops
• Instructional text explaining how to play their game
• ICT skills can also be utilised in the production of adverts on the computer or with PowerPoint presentations about their games.