This document describes a study that adapted a Lean Lego business game to teach business concepts to children aged 7-11. Researchers from the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano developed a volunteer program called Junior Uni to teach children topics from various subject areas through hands-on workshops. Their motivation was that business concepts can be difficult for students to understand, but games can help teach abstract ideas. They adapted the original Lean Lego game, which simulates a production line, into shorter rounds with impersonated roles to keep children engaged. Videos show both adult and children sessions going through the push, pull, and workstation rounds. The researchers found that games can effectively teach some tough concepts to children and that their intuitive understanding sometimes surpasses

1. Kids Playing Business
Game,
Teaching abstract concepts to and
influencing mindset of Children
Gabriella Dodero and Xiaofeng Wang
Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Bolzano, Italy

2. Background
What do children know about
work organization?

3. The Junior Uni initiative @ FUB
Since 2011 FUB staff has started a volunteer
programme for local children
Workshops, collecting 10-15 children each,
have been arranged on University premises
and at schools
Topics span all subject areas taught at the
University, from Design to Robotics, from
Entomology to Music, from Law to Theatre, etc,
etc…

4. Our Motivation
Many concepts and principles regarding business, management or
engineering are abstract, therefore difficult, to teach to students.
Business game can help
Paradigm-shifting concepts and principles, e.g. Lean, especially
require change of existing mindsets, which proves a painful and
demanding process.
"plant the right seeds from the beginning"
R. Blunt, “Does Game-Based Learning Work? Results from Three Recent
Studies,” The Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation & Education
Conference (I/ITSEC), NTSA, Orlando, Florida, USA, pp. 945-954, 2007.

5. Theoretical Grounding
• Kids of 7-11 years old are able to
undertake concrete operations, and
reflect on them.
• Therefore it is possible to teach
them business concepts, even if
they are abstract
• However, kids are easily bored
by traditional lecturing. They
would very much enjoy and
grasp new concepts through
learning-by-doing and smart
games.
Piaget, J. (1953) The Origin of Intelligence in the Child, Selected works, (Vol.3) Routledge, xi,425p.
Ginsburg, H. and S. Opper (1979). Piaget's Theory of Intellectual Development, Prentice Hall.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants, MCB University Press, vol. 9, no. 5.

6. Main Research Focus
How to adapt business games to teach young kids fundamental
business and organizational concepts, e.g., Lean?

7. Lean Lego Game: Original
Simulating a product line to build
Process
3 rounds:
1. Push
2. Pull
3. Workstation

8. Game Adaptation for Kids
adding
fun!!
Simulating a product line to build
The game facilitator impersonates.
Still 3 rounds:
adding
fun!!
But shorter
iterations per
round
1. Push
2. Pull
3. Workstation

9. A Grown-up Session | Round 1 (Push)
(9 students, aged 23-31)
Youtube link: http://youtu.be/UC_jAk2ePqc

10. A Grown-up Session | Round 2 (Pull)
(9 students, aged 23-31)
Youtube link: http://youtu.be/K3yKevIAgvg

11. A Grown-up Session | Round 3 (Workstation)
(9 students, aged 23-31)
Youtube link: http://youtu.be/fna7jqhl4Ig

12. A Kids Session | Round 1 (Push)
(8 kids, aged 8-12)
Youtube link: http://youtu.be/6hTPM9eMoHg

13. A Kids Session | Round 2 (Pull)
(8 kids, aged 8-12)
Youtube link: http://youtu.be/3SNX_hZwmuE

14. A Kids Session | Round 3 (Workstation)
(8 kids, aged 8-12)
Youtube link: http://youtu.be/hc00IaBjoa8

15. Lessons Learnt
• “Men or machines, who
will win?”
• Kids get some (tough)
concepts intuitively
– But older ones complain
that “nothing good will
come out of chaos”!!
• Business games can be
adapted for youngsters

16. “We must be very careful when we give advice to younger people:
sometimes they follow it!”
E. W. Dijkstra, 1972
Thank You!!!
Questions?
Gabriella Dodero
Xiaofeng Wang
gdodero@unibz.it
xiaofeng.wang@unibz.it