Plato Games Inc., created by Gail Nelson (AKA “the Game Lady”), sees games as a way of engaging young minds so that they can enhance their basic math skills during their early education.

“Curriculum and pedagogy should provide opportunities for deep and passionate engagement with ideas and experiences that matter to young people and their teachers… We value creative or alternative approaches to education that bring life to the subject disciplines deemed essential to education.” – Canadian Education Association.

When developing her unique educational games, Gail spent time with children – both inside of classroom settings and out – interacting with them at their level so that she could more accurately assess how they learned and what sparked their interest. Gail paid particular attention to the children who were more reluctant to participate in their learning and seemed uninterested in classroom activities. What she learned was that the children were most responsive to advanced graphic design and sport themes, knowledge that became the foundation on which all her games are built.

Gail quickly discovered that her games were able to successfully engage students of all interest and skill levels, including those who generally lack enthusiasm and tend to struggle. By introducing early math concepts in manageable pieces, children are able to progress gradually and at their own pace, which allows them to grow their confidence and associate positive experiences with education. This is crucial in reducing frustration in children, and the frequently encountered “I hate math” attitude.

All of the games Gail introduces to the public, through her company Plato Games Inc., are pre-tested with age appropriate students for a minimum of two years prior to production. You are invited to review some of the testimonials from our “game experts” and their teachers on the Testimonials section of this website.

“The most effective kind of education is that a child should play amongst lovely things” — Plato

“It is so gratifying to see a child light up with enthusiasm for learning, or to see the excitement of a teacher who is able to reach the children that are prone to struggle,” says Gail. “Kids go further when they can play to learn.”

Global Peace Hut

We foster learning of the ways of peacemaking and peace building in children, families, schools and communities through education and skill development. We create simple spaces and places, virtual or structural, where conversations contributing to living in peace can be held; where all voices can be heard and everyone is welcome.

Our Vision is living peace.

Our Mission is to provide people with the tools to live in peace, connected to each other in community and globally.

Global Peace Hut is a Canadian NGO that runs conflict resolution and peacemaking programs in Uganda, East Africa. through their local indigenous affiliate NGO Global Peace Hut-Uganda. GPH U has a team of Ugandan peacemaking trainers who as young adults, work with students, teachers, schools, families and communities. They teach the ways of being a peacemaker in local language through folk stories, and storytelling, through puppetry, drama, games, art and music, activities, as well as circle sharing. Africa has a strong heritage of traditional wisdom around peacemaking and conflict resolution. They access the wisdom and spirit of Africa through connecting to these traditional ways and talking about them in the current context.

The schools and communities in which Global Peace Hut works have many families and orphans who have been displaced from their own communities as a result of a war in the north of the country that has lasted for 20 years. These children and youth do not know what it is like to live in peace, and extreme poverty and violence are part of their daily existence. They have experienced a great deal of trauma and continue to live with much violence in their lives. For healing to take place they need to feel safe to tell their own stories and have others who care listen to them.

ON PEACE – In Their Own Words

Our peacemaking training team has taught conflict resolution/ peacemaking work in more than 18 schools. Here’s what some people we have worked with, have to say about Global Peace Hut’s peacemaking programs: (Quotes used with permission.)

“…This peacemaking training, It changes the human being from the inside out.” – Hellen Akello, Headmistress of Bugolobi Literacy School, Kampala

“…then our visitors came and they teach us about that peacemaker. I learned about peace. Then I started to change at school. All the children was hating me. They started to like me. That time was a hard time, because I was knowing in my heart nobody could forgive me at school. But I apologized to them. Every child was there. They forgave me. They gave me a leader. Now I’m assistant head boy. Peace is happiness. When you got a peace, it’s happiness.” – Vicent Walujo, Student at Bugolobi Literacy School, Kampala

“Caning does not train a child, but this conflict resolution, this peacemaking, this talking dialogue helps a child to become a better person.” – Catherine Mugerwa, Inspector, Ministry of Education, Uganda.

To contact Global Peace Hut or for more information, please visit their website: www.globalpeacehut.org

At Plato Games, we encourage the use of play as an effective learning tool. This approach is the result of company owner and game developer, Gail Nelson’s, own experience in helping her daughter absorb her education. Gail knew that her daughter was bright and intelligent, though she was struggling to grasp some early mathematical concepts. Gail spent time listening to her daughter, watching her play, and observing how she learned, then processed the information and began developing more effective ways of sharing information with her daughter. What worked best, what helped her daughter firmly understand her education, were the games Gail developed.

Gail had managed to find a way to make learning fun, not hard, for her daughter and it vastly improved her daughter’s abilities in school. In fact, her daughter’s teacher was so impressed, she asked Gail to create other math games to engage the rest of her class that year, and for years to come.

Now, with the launch of her own educational game company, Gail Nelson continues to devote herself to unlocking the potential of each child. Each game presents information through interest-based themes, and offers several ways for children to absorb their education. Gail takes time playing with children at their level, finding out what really excites them, and applies it to her games so that she can create positive early learning experiences, leading the way for positive learning experiences throughout the future.

“The Direction in which education starts
a man will determine his future in life.

—Plato”

Children are brilliant, extraordinary people, with enormous capacity for learning. What most children have in common is that they absorb information about their world through variations of sight, sound, and touch. What is unique to each child, is how they interpret the information they receive. Some process and comprehend their education quickly and easily, while others, equally bright and brilliant, may struggle to come to the same conclusions.

When children are young, they just want to fit in and be like everyone else; their self-esteem is delicate. If they are unable to learn the same way as their peers, they may feel inadequate or inferior. What they don’t know is that what makes them different is what makes them exceptional. They’re ability to perceive information differently, to come to different conclusions when presented with the same information, is a tremendous gift. It’s what will help them excel as adults, overcome obstacles, and allow them to shine above their competition. So, rather than try to force the round peg through a square hole, we at Plato Games, are dedicated to embracing the unique, the different, the individual.

“Learning should be fun, not hard,” says Gail Nelson, Plato Games president and owner, “Kids go further when they can play to learn.”