The Impact of the Educational Game “Castle of Emotions” on the Social–Emotional Learning of Third-Grade Students

Abstract

Academic success extends beyond cognitive achievement and requires the development of social and emotional competencies such as self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness, effective communication, and responsible decision making. Despite increasing attention to these competencies in educational discourse, classroom practices often remain centered on traditional instructional approaches, while students face growing social and behavioral challenges. Early elementary school represents a critical developmental period in which strengthening social and emotional skills can contribute to students’ academic engagement, interpersonal relationships, and overall well-being. The present study examined the effectiveness of an educational board game, Castle of Emotions, designed to promote social and emotional learning (SEL) among third-grade elementary school students. The game was developed based on key SEL components and structured to encourage the practice of skills such as task articulation, peer interaction, and self-regulation through collaborative and interactive gameplay. These elements were embedded within the mechanics of the game to provide students with opportunities to experience and apply social and emotional competencies during structured learning activities. A quasi-experimental design with pre-test and post-test and a control group was employed. Thirty students were selected through convenience sampling and then randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Data were collected using a standardized Social–Emotional Learning questionnaire. In addition, qualitative information was gathered through semi-structured student interviews and systematic classroom observations during gameplay. The intervention consisted of implementing the Castle of Emotions board game in 12 sessions, each lasting 45 minutes. Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance. The findings indicated that participation in the intervention significantly improved students’ social and emotional learning and its components, with a large effect size. The results suggest that structured educational board games can be effective tools for fostering social and emotional competencies in elementary education.