The NutriScheme Card Game is an engaging narrative card game designed for elementary school children to play with their peers or family members. Its primary objective is to facilitate the understanding of how to compose a healthy meal by recognizing and combining different food groups. This game serves as a practical tool to address the growing concern over children's health issues by making nutritional education accessible and enjoyable.
Elementary school children
Peers and family members participating in the learning process
Procreate, Figma
To identify various food items and their respective food groups (e.g., Drinks, Vegetables, etc.)
To understand the basic nutritional content of different foods
To learn how to assemble a balanced meal based on nutritional principles
Complex dietary guidelines and abstract nutrition science make child nutrition education difficult. Schools and families need an easy way to teach kids how to make healthy meals. By simplifying nutritional information into a fun and interactive format, the NutriScheme Card Game helps children understand and apply these concepts in their daily lives.
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Front: Features the food name, a corresponding cartoon image for easy recognition, card classification (e.g., Drink, Vegetable), a unique number within its group, and the group's designated color.
Back: Displays the food name, a brief introduction to the food, and its main nutrients.
Gameplay: Players draw cards to assemble a meal that balances the different food groups. Educational moments are integrated as players discuss the nutritional value of their chosen cards, guided by the information on the back.
Winning Criteria: The game can be tailored to different educational objectives, such as creating the most nutritionally balanced meal or learning about specific nutrients.
Narrative Theory: The NutriScheme Card Game also employs Narrative Theory by incorporating storytelling into the learning process. As players build meals with their cards, they create a narrative around healthy eating and nutritional balance. This approach makes abstract nutritional concepts more concrete and relatable, engaging learners’ imagination and emotions, and enhancing their understanding and retention of the material.
Coherence Principle: This principle emphasizes the importance of eliminating extraneous content. In NutriScheme, only essential information about food groups and nutritional content is included on the cards, avoiding unnecessary details that do not directly contribute to the learning objectives.
Signaling Principle: Key nutritional information on the cards is highlighted through the use of symbols or colors, directing learners' attention to important elements and aiding in the organization of information.
Spatial Contiguity Principle: Related text and visuals, such as the food name and its cartoon image, are placed closely together on each card to facilitate easy association and learning.
Multimedia Principle: By integrating words and pictures (e.g., food names and their cartoon representations), the game ensures a more effective learning experience than using words or images alone.
Reflecting on the necessity for an engaging and educational approach to nutritional learning, the NutriScheme Card Game was conceptualized to transform abstract nutritional concepts into tangible, interactive learning experiences. The design process involved:Researching nutritional guidelines to select a diverse range of foods for the cards.Collaborating with educators and nutritionists to ensure the accuracy and relevance of the information presented.
