Technologies · Year 1

Active learning ideas

Interactive Learning Games

Active play is the natural way Year 1 students explore new ideas. Interactive Learning Games turn screen time into focused practice by letting children manipulate objects, repeat challenges, and receive instant feedback—mimicking the most effective early-childhood learning cycles.

• ACARA Content Descriptions
• ACARA Australian Curriculum v9: Design and Technologies F-2, Knowledge and Understanding, explore how people design and produce familiar products, services and environments to meet local needs and wants (AC9TDE2K03)
• ACARA Australian Curriculum v9: Digital Technologies F-2, Knowledge and Understanding, identify and explore digital systems and their components for a purpose (AC9TDI2K01)
• ACARA Australian Curriculum v9: HASS F-2, History, how the present is different from or similar to the past (AC9HS1K02)

• 20–45 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Outdoor Investigation Session
• 45 min · Small Groups

App Exploration Stations: Subject-Based Games

Set up stations with tablets loaded with maths counting, phonics matching, and science sorting apps. Small groups spend 7 minutes at each station, playing and noting one new idea learned. Groups report back to the class on their favourite feature.

Evaluate how a learning game helps you understand new ideas.

Facilitation Tip

During App Exploration Stations, circulate with a clipboard to jot which skill each child repeats most often and how many times.

What to look for

After playing two different learning games, ask students: 'Which game helped you understand [specific concept, e.g., counting to 20] better, and why? What did you like or dislike about each game?' Record student responses to gauge their evaluative thinking.

• Remember
• Understand
• Analyze
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness
• Decision-Making

Activity 02

• Outdoor Investigation Session
• 30 min · Pairs

Book vs App Pairs: Comparison Challenge

Pairs select a topic like animals, read a picture book page, then play a related app. They draw two pictures showing similarities and differences in learning. Pairs share drawings in a whole-class gallery walk.

Compare learning from a book to learning from an interactive app.

Facilitation Tip

For Book vs App Pairs, provide identical sticky notes so students can record differences they notice while both formats are in front of them.

What to look for

Provide students with a simple worksheet. Ask them to draw one element from a learning game they played and write one sentence explaining how it helped them learn. This checks their ability to identify and articulate the learning function of game components.

• Remember
• Understand
• Analyze
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness
• Decision-Making

Activity 03

• Outdoor Investigation Session
• 40 min · Small Groups

Game Design Workshop: Rule Creation

In small groups, students brainstorm a simple game for kindergarteners on colours, list 3-4 rules on paper, and test by acting it out. Groups swap prototypes to play and suggest one improvement.

Design a simple learning game for younger students.

Facilitation Tip

In the Game Design Workshop, limit materials to crayons and blank paper so the focus stays on rule writing rather than decoration.

What to look for

In pairs, students share their simple game design ideas. Each student provides one piece of positive feedback and one suggestion for improvement to their partner's design, focusing on clarity of rules and learning purpose.

• Remember
• Understand
• Analyze
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness
• Decision-Making

Activity 04

• Outdoor Investigation Session
• 20 min · Whole Class

Evaluation Circle: Group Reflection

Whole class sits in a circle with devices. Each student shares one way a game helped understanding, passing a talking stick. Teacher charts responses to identify common benefits.

Evaluate how a learning game helps you understand new ideas.

What to look for

After playing two different learning games, ask students: 'Which game helped you understand [specific concept, e.g., counting to 20] better, and why? What did you like or dislike about each game?' Record student responses to gauge their evaluative thinking.

• Remember
• Understand
• Analyze
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness
• Decision-Making

A few notes on teaching this unit

Start with short bursts of guided play to build stamina. Keep whole-group explanations to under five minutes and rely on peer demonstration whenever possible. Research shows that when children teach each other, they refine their own understanding faster than through teacher talk alone.

Students will confidently name the skills they practiced, compare how different formats teach, and draft clear rules for a simple game. Look for focused talk, sketches with labeled parts, and peers giving kind, specific feedback.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During App Exploration Stations, watch for students who say games are 'just fun' without naming skills.

  Redirect by handing each child a small whiteboard and asking them to write one number they counted correctly and one shape they matched before moving to the next station.

• During Book vs App Pairs, notice children who treat the app as if it were a book with no interactivity.

  Prompt them to press every button on the screen and describe aloud what changed, using the sentence frame 'When I touch..., then...'.

• During Game Design Workshop, listen for comments that designing a game requires coding.

  Place a large sheet of paper with the heading 'Our Game Rules' and model writing a single rule such as 'Spin the spinner, then move your counter that many spaces,' showing that words and drawings are enough to begin.

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Methods used in this brief

• Outdoor Investigation Session