Use of educational game activities in Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge lessons at the 5th grade

The idea of using games for educational purposes has a long history. Because games offer motivational effects on students as well as the opportunity to turn boring practices that require abstract thinking into fun. In contemporary pedagogy, it is also emphasized that play offers the opportunity to gain a sense of self-confidence, reflect thoughts and dreams, and discover own skills and abilities. In this context, it is suggested that educational games should be used actively for the Primary Education Religious Culture and Ethics course in order for students to perceive abstract concepts better and to ensure permanent learning. Children understand and make sense of their environment with play. Since religious feelings develop in parallel with this, it is possible to provide religious education, which includes abstract concepts, with a healthy and good guidance. In order to increase the effectiveness of the Primary Education Religious Culture and Ethics course, which includes many abstract concepts, it is possible to teach these concepts by using games. Hence, we agree that the course will be more enjoyable for students and they will be more active during the lesson. As a result, we argue that if relavant educational games suitable for students' age group, the attitudes and motivations of the students towards the course will increase which consequently result in an increase in theri academic success. Primary Education Religious Culture and Ethics courses are compulsory in Turkey starting from the 4th grade. However, altough it is a well known fact that educational games has significant effects on children's development and academic achievement, there is a limited number of studies in national literature. In this context, the aim of this study was determined as to investigate the usability of educational game activities in the Primary Education Religious Culture and Ethics course. In the research, it is aimed to develop activities related to transferring the achievements related to the "Ramadan and ‎Fasting" unit to the students in the 5th grade Primary Education Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge course. ‎ Within the scope of Ramadan and Fasting unit in the research, "Recognizes the traditions related to Ramadan and fasting in our culture." 8 on the learning outcome, "Explains the concepts of Ramadan and fasting with examples." 22 and "Realizes Ramadan fasting and its importance." A total of 40 educational game activities have been prepared for 3 different acquisitions, 10 of which are related to the learning outcome.‎ It has been concluded that educational games help children to understand concepts, develop problem-solving skills, help them gain daily life skills, enable them to understand abstract concepts more easily, develop hand-eye coordination, and develop social skills. In this respect, it is important to prepare educational games in a way that will attract children's attention, in line with their developmental periods/characteristics and needs.