What We Do
Universal Board Games specialise in using board games as a dynamic, interactive tool for social education and consultation. We also work with young people and communities to design new board games which are then used as awareness and educational tools for social education.
We offer three types of workshop:
Game Playing Workshops
Our popular workshops appeal to a wide variety of user groups. By playing board games from around the world, participants develop their social, communication, planning and decision making skills. Learning through playing board games offers a fun creative way to improve literacy and numeracy skills, whilst building confidence and self-esteem.
Our tutors will facilitate the workshops to accommodate your needs. We can use games from around the world, traditional games, quick and easy games, maths games, communication games, team building games or other themes.
Groups we have worked with are:
- Young people in schools, youth clubs and playgrounds.
- Families and communities playing games together.
- Training learning mentors, lunchtime workers and playcentre staff.
- Training parents to play games with their children
- Icebreakers for community meetings e.g. housing association.
- Team building for adults.
Game Design Workshops
Adhering to a brief from our partners we incorporate the group’s creative design ideas into new board games. We work with groups of young people or the community guiding them through the design process over a series of workshops. UBG then produce a mock up of the game which the groups test and make changes to. The process continues until everyone is happy with the final game, design, game play, length of game etc.
The design process is an excellent way for groups to work together using the diverse strengths of the group. It is also a fantastic way to learn and remember information for example the group making Hyperfactive, the drugs awareness game knew all the facts by the final play.
If you have an idea for a game design project, contact us.
"What you guys do is put the young people’s ideas into the games and not your own"Jenny O'Shea, Barnard Adventure Playground.
Young People's Consultation Projects
UBG have been commissioned by Islington Council to consult with young people in the borough. Our aim is to communicate young people’s views and give them a voice. We do this by designing young people friendly questionnaires and working with young people to collect information from their peers and using games to create a social fun environment. Working with a core group of young people, we translate the information into a fun interactive board game. That game can than be used to consult with a wider group of young people, often with the help of the core group. All the information gathered is collated into a detailed report representing young people’s views. The core group then play the game with the key decision-makers to ensure the message is loud and clear.
Examples of consultation projects are in Past and Present Projects
- March 2007 Islington Summer University Consultation
- March 2006 Waterside Adventure Playground Rebuild Consultation
- November 2005 Islington Council Budget Consulation
- July 2005 Arsenal Regeneration Team Stadium Consultation
- December 2004 Barnard Park And Kings Cross Regeneration Consultation
Headteacher, St Matthias Primary School.
UBG Ebay Store:
Purchase games from around the world at or Ebay store here.