“Facilitator’s Playground” was an international training course for youth workers and educators to level up their game facilitation skills. Participants explored how to be effective game masters, guide players smoothly through different educational game formats (escape games, tabletop games, live action role-play), and conduct meaningful debriefings that turn play into learning. Below you can find short feedback from our Estonian participants:
“This was my first training related to educational games, and I honestly didn’t know what to expect from it. However, I’m coming back with tons of ideas and a strong desire to create and put all this new knowledge into practice. It was a week in which we developed our creativity, made mistakes (and celebrated them), and gained new and useful skills.
The international atmosphere, where it was possible to share experiences and ideas with people from different parts of Europe, made the flow of ideas feel natural and effortless. Connecting so easily with people from different cultures is always a wonderful surprise.
Facilitator’s Playground inspired me to create my own edugame, so I hope to have it ready before the next training!”
“Before the project I felt quite confused because I had no connection or prior experience with educational games. I expected that I might have a difficult time understanding everything, but the experience turned out to be much better than I imagined.
The training helped me realise that learning can happen through games, I had always believed that games were only meant for fun. One of the most interesting aspects was meeting participants who came with diverse knowledge and experiences in using educational games for different topics. Learning from them was truly inspiring.
Through this training, I gained valuable skills such as facilitating educational games, managing time effectively, and becoming a better listener. A memorable moment for me was the collaborative atmosphere, where everyone supported each other’s learning. In the future, when I begin working in a youth center or school, something I am passionate about, I plan to use some of the games we practiced during the training with my students to create engaging and meaningful learning experiences.”
“During these days I had an opportunity to test different types of games as a player and as well as a facilitator. Taking part in different roles gave me a better overview of games’ structures, rules and goals.
It was inspiring to play and facilitate together with other participants and cooperate as one team. This reminded me how important it is to be an active listener, supportive, open minded and friendly when it comes to cooperation in organizing something. Similar characteristics that I noticed from our beloved trainers, who managed to create such an enjoyable environment during their facilitation sessions. I really liked the flow and the energy with clear explanations of what they presented to participants. All the staff who organized this project gave a very good effort and It was visibly felt during this professional training course.”
“I was really excited to go to the training course «Facilitator’s Playground», because I’m a huge fan of board games. I had already had an experience with facilitating educational board games, but I wanted to improve my skills and gain new useful knowledge on this topic.
For me, the most interesting part of the training was getting one hour to get to know the game that was given to us, and then facilitate it to other participants. It was quite challenging, but really helpful with improving game master skills. In addition, the exercise about embracing our mistakes was one of the most helpful things for my everyday life. Also, board game nights with people were the highlight of every evening.
I plan to use gained knowledge for facilitating games in my community, maybe to develop my own escape box with the ideas that I got from the training, and I will definitely share my new learnings with my friends.”
“I was excited to join the training, as I was looking forward to combining two of my passions: non-formal education (professionally) and board games (personally). It was so healing and energising to be among fellow nerds (used in the most) who embraced the joy and fascinating power of educational games.
Most of all, I appreciated that we approached the topic with care and criticality – understanding how powerful educational games can be, we emphasized the role of preparing, setting the atmosphere, stepping in and out of different roles, and debriefing. On a personal level, I gained so much from taking on challenges of facilitating and playing games that I otherwise would not have.
I will keep using the learnings of magic of educational games in my learning activities and in my games circle as well. I believe people who are not into non-formal education can and should be able to benefit from the approach and reflective mindset we take there as well. I also hope to create a game in the future that combines both the quality game and educational elements!”