Science can also be a game – a very fun one at that, especially when we get to know it through the didactic game “What’s on the menu?”.

On Friday, June 6, the students of the 5th grade of the Ankaran Elementary School left the traditional classroom and stepped into a real scientific training ground. Through the author’s didactic game “What’s on the menu?”, developed within the Erasmus project SciMaG, which was designed by Dr. Mojca Kukanja Gabrijelčič, Ph.D. Nataša Dolenc and Dr. Tadeja Volmut, students learned about food chains and the role of producers, consumers and interpreters in the ecosystem.

The didactic game, which combines elements of natural history, physical activity and creative thinking, led students through a dynamic learning scenario in which, in the roles of predator, herbivore and explainer, they discovered what was “on the menu” in the natural food web. With an innovative approach, the students not only deepened their understanding of photosynthesis and nutritional relationships, but also developed the skills of cooperation, rule-following and functional knowledge.

At the National Expert Conference “Current Projects and Application of Project Outcomes in Geography Teaching”, which was held on July 4, 2025 at the Josip Pupačić Primary School in Omiš, geography teachers from all over Croatia gathered to exchange experiences and examples of good practice in implementing project activities in teaching.

Among numerous topics, geography teacher Barbara Ruža Čirjak gave a lecture on GeoGaM activities – geographical games that were designed and implemented within the framework of the SciMaG project. Through concrete examples, she showed how educational games can encourage active learning of geography, develop students’ collaborative skills and contribute to the achievement of project outcomes in a creative and motivating way.

During the lecture, she showed examples of the implementation of two games: Pi dance – treasure hunt and Say it in other words. In this way, she showed that the game, when well methodically integrated into teaching, is not only a means of entertainment, but also a powerful tool for developing students’ geographical competences and knowledge. By integrating project content into regular classes, teachers additionally empower students to apply geographic knowledge in everyday situations and develop a positive attitude towards learning.

On Tuesday, April 22, 2025, activities and didactic games aimed at encouraging the development of numerical concepts in preschool age were carried out in the Polhek kindergarten in Stari trg pri Ložu. Children aged 4 to 6 years participated in the activities.

The same activities were carried out on June 19, 2025, with children aged 4 to 5 years in the Šmarje kindergarten, which is participating as an associated partner in the SciMaG project. The children participated in the activities with great interest and gained valuable experiences through play that are important for the development of numerical concepts and logical thinking.

On June 26th, 2025, we participated in the opening of the festival Tobogan in Rijeka, Croatia. We presented our SciMaG games Assemble and play Sudoku, and various puzzles.

Within the framework of the Erasmus+ SciMaG project and work package WP4, under the name “Educational Scenarios”, testing activities of educational scenarios based on educational games were carried out. The scenarios were tested in geography classes in the 5th grade, at the “Jovan Popović” Elementary School in Novi Sad. The aforementioned school gave the project full support in the process of applying for it and enabled the implementation of activities within the framework of this work package. In several classes, educational scenarios were tested among students of different knowledge levels, with an attempt to connect geography material with other natural sciences. Students showed a high level of motivation in this teaching approach.

We presented the SciMaG project and the educational games developed as part of it in a brief presentation titled “Exploring Optimization Algorithms through a Game-Based Learning Approach” at the MIPRO conference held in Opatija, Croatia, from 2.6.2025.to 6.6.2025.

On May 23rd, we held two workshops for the 8th-grade pupils of the Elementary school Sveti Matej Viškovo, presenting our SciMaG game Open the chest with evolution.

On Friday, 23.5.2025, we held the first (out of three) education on the theme of Game-based learning, where we presented our SciMaG games.

On April 17th, we held four workshops presenting SciMaG games to the pupils of elementary schools in Pazin, Croatia. We talked about tiling and crystals and played games: “Open the chest with evolution” and “Assemble and play Sudoku”.

On April 12th, 2025 we participated in the STEM picnic in Rijeka with several activities: Math escape, Treasure hunt around STEM picnic, Assemble and play sudoku, Mathematical card tricks and Mathematical games and puzzles.