Introducing Soft Skills Through Play: A New Experience with the Youngest VET Students
This week, Escola Pia Mataró has launched a new series of classroom dynamics with the youngest Vocational Education and Training (VET) students, aiming to promote the development of essential soft skills through learning by playing. This innovative approach is rooted in the BE-Games methodology, a playbook designed to foster key values such as empathy, inclusion, emotional awareness, and respect for diversity.
To begin this journey, students engaged with two specially designed activities. The first was an adapted memory game, thoughtfully created by the students themselves. The game focused on themes of inclusion, diversity, empathy, and emotions, allowing participants to reflect and learn interactively and playfully. The second activity was a custom-made bingo game, combining emotional feelings with everyday situations at school. This game encouraged students to identify and relate to various emotional states, fostering empathy and open discussion in a safe environment.
These sessions mark an important step in integrating social and emotional learning into vocational training. By using gamification and student-led design, the activities have not only captured attention and participation but have also helped build a foundation for deeper self-awareness, interpersonal skills, and inclusive thinking.
The combination of structured methodology and creative expression has already shown promising results, and this playful, values-based approach will continue to evolve in the coming weeks.