Ballintubber pupils launch Mayopoly board game
THE fifth and sixth class pupils of Ballintubber National School had a very successful launch of their Mayopoly board game enterprise with Minister Michael Ring at the new Ballintubber playground opening.
With over 50 orders received on the day, the game looks destined be the next big thing.
Mayooply is a Mayo take on the popular Monopoly board game, except in this case the landmarks are all in Mayo, and with a balance of Irish and English cards.
The idea came about as part of the Junior Entrepreneur Programme (JEP) http://www.juniorentrepreneur.ie/ which Ballintubber NS signed up to. In essence, children learn what creating a business is about.
Brian McConnell, principal of Ballintubber NS, said: “The JEP programme has been a brilliant life skills learning initiative for the pupils. The children formed teams and had to pitch Dragons' Den style to a panel made up of entrepreneurs. The best idea for commercial was chosen and then all the children got to work on making that idea a success.
“While developing the Mayopoly game, the children learned that advice from an expert can enhance the product and this advice came in the form of parent and graphic designer Sandra Staunton, who provided much appreciated knowledge and assistance in producing a finished prototype of such high quality.”
Ms. Serantes, who led the JEP initiative, said the children of fifth and sixth class were delighted that all the families of Ballintubber NS were so supportive and encouraging when they launched the game at the Ballintubber community playground opening. It made all their hard work worthwhile.
Close to 70,000 children have now participated nationally in the JEP programme. During JEP, children invest a small amount of money and need to monitor costs and sales closely to ensure they create a profit. They learn fast when they are talking about their own money.
In a JEP survey, 85% of teachers said that JEP enhanced the teaching of maths.
Anyone interested in helping getting the limited edition board game into production should contact Ballintubber National School.