For the last several years we have used the category “Play with Your Kids” to talk about how we play games with our children and which games we have enjoyed playing with them the most (or sometimes the least). For the last year I have been homeschooling my own daughter and have found myself looking back on my time as an elementary school teacher in order to think more clearly about how (and which) games can enhance our learning experience. For this reason (and many more), I am starting a series of posts that will look at how specific games can be used to explore certain subject areas. They may not fit for all children, but I hope that you find some of what I have to offer useful. Please feel free to let me know what you would like to see more or less of in these kinds of posts.
My daughter loves to learn through themes (i.e. games, historical periods, specific ideas). For example we used her interest in the zombie apocalypse to not only learn about how diseases spread (science), the Black Plague and other medical catastrophes (history), but also about medieval castles, knights, and wars (history) in order to figure out how we could best build a zombie bunker, avoid the spread of the zombie virus, and how doctors might discover a cure based on the ways that others had historically. To simulate how diseases spread we also took the opportunity to play the game Plague Inc., where she had the chance to play as the plague that was trying to spread to every continent. She had to think about how she might mutate (or change her behavior) as people learned to best combat her through immunizations, hand washing, or even simply covering their mouths. It was a great way to learn not only how to avoid the spread of disease, but to think more closely about how diseases spread.
Our latest episode of the podcast included an interview with the Director and Co-Founder of Lienzo Studios, Edgar Serrano. Lienzo is the maker of the 3D action-adventure game, Mulaka. Mulaka is a game that draws its narrative from the history of the Tarahumara tribe in Mexico. In the game you play as a Tarahumara shaman, a Sukurúame, who is fighting back a darkness that threatens the land. You, as the Sukurúame, use the power of the demigods to solves a series of puzzles, fight mythical creatures from Tarahumara legends, and learn more about the Tarahumara people themselves. The world itself is based upon the region of the Copper Canyon (also known as Sierra Tarahumara) that is home to this indigenous tribe.
One of the first things that came to mind when I encountered this game and the materials that already existed around it was that it would be a great way to teach my own child about the history and myths of this indigenous tribe. Lienzo has made available to the public several things that will help immensely if you want to use them with your children or students as well. In addition to what Lienzo has made available I am adding some of the ideas that I have pulled together to use with my daughter as well.
Educational Resources: These sources can cover social science, geography, language arts, and music, as well of other subject areas.
Chapter 1: “The Tarahumara Culture”– This video give a short account of the history of the culture of the Tarahumara and their renown as some of the world’s greatest runners. It connects it back to the Sukurúame and the environment that we see in the game itself.
Chapter 2: “The Mythological Creatures”– This video begins with a Tarahumara narrator telling a story of giant who became a tree and continues with the development team of the game talking about the myths and legends that they learned about while researching for the game and later incorporated into the game itself in different ways based on the ways that the stories have been told to them.
Chapter 3: “The Game”– In this video the developers talk specifically about the narrative of Mulaka and how and why they incorporate the history and culture of the Tarahumara into the game with the broader goal of preserving the culture of an indigenous people.
Book: Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall. The story of a runner that connects the culture of Tarahumara runners, science, and the culture of ultra-runners.
Book: Geronimo Stilton Special Edition: The Journey Through Time #2: Back in Time by Geronimo Stilton (Scholastic). While this book isn’t specifically about the Tarahumara I offer it as an example of the kind of book that you might use along with these resources. Geronimo Stilton, as a character, is a mouse and newspaper editor who goes on adventures through time and space. One of the most interesting things about these books is that they include factual information about history and geography within the story. There are also two seasons of the animated series currently available on Amazon Video.
Book: True Book: Mexico (Scholastic) Kid friendly history books like the True Book, Eyewitness (DK Publishing–not the travel series), and Next Stop (Time) series of books are great for offering children easily digestible chunks of information about history and culture in specific parts of the world. They can also include stuff like sections of fun facts.
Music: Original Soundtrack can be found on Youtube or on SoundCloud with some other related songs and themes.
Mulaka
ESRB Rating: Teen
Players: 1 (One)
Platforms: Nintendo Switch ($19.98 USD), Xbox One ($19.99 USD), Playstation 4($19.99 USD), Windows (via Steam $19.99 USD)
