The combination of games and education is getting more and more attention. Not only from primary education, but also from secondary education and vocational education.
Various workshops and conferences on the subject are organised throughout the year. On this page you will find an overview of those meetings.
At games conferences, you can often find the latest releases of games. Increasingly, game makers are also exhibiting games that are still in development. It is worth going to a game fair this year to browse around.
At international fairs, you will come across games that are not in shops in the Netherlands. Sometimes such a game is language-independent and you can use it directly in your own teaching practice. Sometimes it just needs a small adaptation or translation before you can start using it. And often it simply provides a mountain of inspiration and ideas.
If you want to delve deeper into the use of games, there are several workshops where you can shed your light. There you can also exchange with other teachers and educators who use games in their lessons. And of course there are game clubs.
21 – 25 January – National Education Fair, Utrecht (on 23 January you find me in the booth of Leren Leren Nederland) (Nl)
28 January – 1 February – International Toy fair, Nürnberg, Duitsland (DE)
16 February – Vives Spellenfest, Brugge België (BE)
9 April – Tools 4 Schools, Kortrijk, België (BE)
For activities after this date, I refer you to this site
20 January – Games Fair Ducosim, Amersfoort (Nl)
31 January – Conference Gamedidactiek – Learn by Games, Utrecht (Nl)
24 February – Games Fair, Alkmaar (Nl)
3 March – Vives Spellenfest, Brugge België (BE)
16 + 17 March – Zuiderspel, Veldhoven (Nl)
20 April – Games Fair Ducosim, Amersfoort (Nl)
23 – 26 April – The Board Game Studies Colloquium (BGSC), Tampere (Fi)
31 May – boardgames for teens (12-18) LeidscheRijn, Utrecht (Nl)
31 May – 2 June – UK Games Expo, Birmingham (England)
14 – 16 June – NordCon, Hamburg (DE)
28 June – Play in Business, Herwijnen (Nl)
21 September – Games Fair Ducosim, Amersfoort (Nl)
3 – 6 October – Spiel, Essen, Duitsland – with a special programme for education on 5 October and a meeting of Schule und Spiel on 6 October (subject to change) (DE)
16 November – online meeting Schule und Spiel
Maybe you have a game idea of your own. Even then you can come to a games fair.
For example, Uniek Bordspel which helps you publish your own board game. They have already launched several interesting games, such as this clever maths game. Or Wink Games which regularly delivers educational and informative games.
You can also drop by one of the big game publishers to pitch your idea. They are always looking for the hottest new thing for the coming year! Or go to one of the maker meetings where you can test your game and get valuable feedback.
