Games World TTP, Modbury Helen Nixon 27 May 2008

Games World is located opposite Kmart, on the south side of the mall, and is separated from it by The Coffee Club which, as we know, looks outward to both stores and also overlooks PlayWorld to the east. The staff member/manager/owner was happy for me to do the ES in his store but said that he did not think that he had much material relevant to the project. In response to my query as I left, he said that he virtually never got asked for ‘educational toys’, and when he did, it was likely to be a teacher rather than a parent who asked. Most people asked about presents suitable for particular ages of children. He said there were very few games for pre-schoolers other than some card and board games and flash cards. He added that if educational games were popular he would have a section labelled ‘educational games’. The store has book and media tie-in games such as ‘The very hungry caterpillar game’, Thomas the Tank Engine flash cards. The store has games that have series titles which, along with their slogans, suggest a connection between games and learning, e.g. the Learning Mates series (‘Monkey Math. The fun way to learn simple addition’), the Thinkfun series, the Fun Learning series of flash cards. Other series titles are more explicitly connected to education and learning through the text on their boxes which addresses teachers and/or parents, e.g. the Orchard Toys series and the Young Learners series (see below).

A spinner near the store entrance and counter contains flash cards we have seen in Kmart and other stores from companies like School Zone and Fun Learning. Some address literacy and numeracy topics.

Phonics Made Easy; Colours, Shapes & More; Subtraction 0-12; Maths War; licensed character cards: Sesame Street, Thomas the Tank Engine

A section for card and board games at the back of the store on the western wall includes some games designated ‘educational’ and produced by companies such as Orchard Toys, and series Young Learners (Clementoni), Learning Mates, and Thinkfun.

Some alphabet and number games for children aged 3+ claim to assist a ‘love of language to emerge’. They are described as ‘great for families and educators’ and claim to ‘develop imagination and creative word play’.

Orchard Toys include ‘Educational guides’ which tell parents/teachers what skills the toys has been designed to develop and how the toys ‘link with National Curriculum English’ (UK).

Clementoni’s ‘Young Learners’ series includes guidelines for parents about how to use the puzzles to assist children to ‘develop their writing and spelling skills’ but warns them not to ‘let these activities become a test’