Ninja
Kitchen - Image credit: NMSU Innovative Media Research and Extension
The Learning
Games Lab at New Mexico State University is a
development studio and an exploratory environment for playing and evaluating
games and educational tools. Its parent department, NMSU Innovative Media
Research and Extension, partners with universities and agencies nationwide to
create online interactive games and animations on a wide variety of subjects - math
and science education, food safety, conservation, and more - for a range of
grade levels.
Their vast portfolio of products includes Ninja Kitchen - a food
safety educational game.
Ninja Kitchen is a free,
browser-based Serious Game that helps middle schoolers learn germ theory and proper
food handling. Gameplay reveals principles of food safety, helping to prevent foodborne
illnesses.
Foodborne illnesses are a burden on public health and contribute significantly
to the cost of healthcare. They are a preventable and underreported public
health problem. It is important to internalize how people’s behavior contribute to the safety
of food and how they can decrease the risk of foodborne illness. From processes
on the farm to practices in the kitchen, human activities play an important
role in food safety.
Following four simple steps at home — Clean, Separate, Cook, and Chill
— can help protect us from food poisoning.
Ninja Kitchen game addresses
all four:
Clean - Wash
your hands and surfaces often
Separate - Don't
cross-contaminate
Cook - To
the right temperature
Chill -
Refrigerate promptly
Gameplay
In Ninja Kitchen, a café staffed entirely by ninjas, students
are tasked with filling orders from hungry customers in a timely and hygienic
manner. Throughout the game, players gradually build their food preparation
skills.
The Ninja is required to properly wash and slice vegetables and fruits,
cook meat thoroughly and combine with other ingredients. If customers don’t get
their food properly, they leave without paying.
The game is broken down into 10 rounds, with each round getting increasingly
more difficult than the previous one as customers demand more complicated
dishes. Each round educates the player on different aspects of proper food
handling procedures and the basics of germ theory.
In the final levels, the previously obvious food contamination, which
hovered above the plates or food, becomes invisible. If students perform well
at these levels, educators know that food safety messages have been
internalized and students are tracking which foods are clean and which are
contaminated.
Your
masked alter-ego leaps from refrigerator to sink and oven to counter, tossing plates
to an archetypal teenaged clientele.
The
games raises awareness of the risks of cross-contamination, the danger of
leaving food at room temperature, and the importance of cooking animal proteins
to the proper temperature.Ninja
Kitchen - Image credit: NMSU Innovative Media Research and ExtensionThe game was evaluated with middle school youth who did not have much knowledge about food safety practices and how to prevent foodborne illness, to see if the game helped them learn. After playing the game, middle schoolers knew significantly more about safe cooking temperatures and danger zone temperatures for meat, fish and poultry. They cared more about eating clean and safe food, felt more confident in their abilities to prepare food safely, and were more determined to do so.
Aimed to address youth food handling responsibilities, Ninja Kitchen is contributing to upgrade their food safety knowledge and translate it into a positive change in behavior and attitudes. Last but not least, it is really fun to play!
(Please find also Serious Games Give Students Another Way To Look At Math Concepts and Serious Games Help Students Build A Positive Credit History