Just in time for Valentine’s Day, students in Islip’s EXCEL program for the gifted took on a fresh challenge, putting their minds to the task of creating Valentine-themed board games. The results ranged from physically engaging games that required students to use the power of their breath to aim a ping pong ball through a tube made out of paper to hit a target, to building games where students had to create a bridge using index cards, to homemade dice that were created using foam and clay.

“My students’ board games integrated content knowledge from what students have learned in EXCEL and also were critiqued with a rubric which assessed creativity and craftsmanship, having clear objective and directions, intellectual content and creative integration of the Valentine’s Day theme,” said EXCEL coordinator Julia Johnson.