Make a Snakes and Ladders educational board game using Microsoft Word

Submitted by Fiona Beal
Most learners like to play dice board games of one kind or another. Board games satisfy a learner’s competitive edge, and they also help learners to master skills such as:

·         Communicating verbally

·         Sharing, waiting and taking turns

·         Learning to focus and think ahead

·         Coping with situations where luck changes in an instant

·         Perseverance. Often the message of a board game is - never give up. You might hit the jackpot if you persevere.

When these board games came make learning more fun it’s a win-win situation for both the teacher and the learners. Board games created for learning can cover virtually any topic. The best is when the learners themselves create the games. 

This post shows how learners can easily create their own Snakes and Ladders board games using Microsoft Word and a few basic images.

The task
I set a Grade 4 class this task:
1. Create a Snakes and Ladders Maths or English game.
2. Give your game a catchy name.
3. Create a numbered board from 1 – 100 and add your content.

4. Add the snakes and the ladders.
5. Colour in some of the blocks.
6. Fill in the information on how to play your game underneath your template
7. Use your online name instead of your name and surname.

Brainstorm ideas for the game
The class had a brainstorm of ideas first and these are some of the ideas they came up with:

English games

Spelling words

Opposites

Adjectives and adverbs
word rhyming

Nouns – Proper, common, abstract and  collective

Comparison of Adjectives – positive, comparative, superlative,

past, present and future tense

Maths games

Addition and subtraction

Multiplication and division

Doubling and halving

What comes next

Add five

Create the template with its content
1. Use landscape orientation and Calibri point 11 font. Create a table 10X10.

2. Add numbers starting on the bottom left and going across to the right. Go up one and continue to the left.  Add the words START and FINISH

3. Add  the content in bold, and colour in the blocks of the content.
4. Add the snakes and ladders. Download here http://bit.ly/2f7AKXO.
5. Write the instructions for the game.

6. Print on cardboard and play the game. 

Playing with virtual dice

A thought struck me as we were creating the games. What if we could use a virtual dice on tablets instead of a physical rolled dice? You'll find a virtual dice here:
http://www.curriculumbits.com/prodimages/details/maths/mat0005.html

Two examples

I was very pleased with the game board results, and the class loved making these. Here are two examples of the completed board games. 

Further reading
Take a look at this blog post which gives a tutorial on how to make a board game which is not necessarily a snakes and ladders board game, on any topic, using Microsoft Word. UNCW EdGames have uploaded a video for teachers which shows how to make Microsoft Word Game Boards for Teachers. This is linked to their website:  http://people.uncw.edu/ertzbergerj/word_games.html,  which has ideas for Word, PowerPoint and Excel games.

Give this revision activity idea a try. Your learners will love it!