Woolly hunt helps pupils find their way
Trying to find a virtual sheep has helped Hampden St pupils learn more about their school.
Year 5 and 6 pupils played a game especially developed for the school by Nelson College students.
The game was created with the augmented reality app Aurasma by Nelson College’s team behind the book Where’s Woolly.
The team had created the book which asks readers to find a sheep character along the same lines as the hugely popular Where’s Wally as part of a Nelson College business enterprise class.
Where’s Woolly marketing director James Perham said they had the idea for an augmented reality type treasure hunt before Poke´mon GO became big several months ago, but hadn’t had the time to put it together before then.
The idea behind the game was to have the children learn more about their school in a fun and interactive way.
The children were divided into groups and given an iPad.
They then pointed the camera on certain points within the school’s perimeter, such as a door handle or a signage board, and some information and a different clue would come up on their screen.
The first group to find the final clue and answer all the questions successfully wins.
Leah Howse, 9, said the game was fun and she liked it.
Anna Hobson, 10, was in the same team as Leah and said they would probably win the game.
James said one of the funda- mental values of their business was to teach kids about New Zealand. ‘‘Instead of them learning about the country itself, they’re learning about a bit more about their school.
‘‘The clues are encrypted in a way, they have to work them down.’’
They spent the last three weeks planning and picking locations at the school.
The Where’s Woolly team recently broke 1000 book sales to 28 countries around the world, Perham said.
Next on their list of goals is entering the Chinese tourist market and they’re well on their way with the first Where’s Woolly book printed in Chinese.