This game develops Valuing People and Nature (with emphasis on nature) because it repeatedly invites children to practice respect for living beings and ecosystems through concrete choices, visible consequences, and short reflection in the moment.

1. Understanding and appreciating nature as a whole (wholeness)

• The pig’s well-being is shown as a relationship between a living being and its environment: mud, rain, shelter, and sudden events all influence what happens.
• Cards like Rain (system-wide change) and Mud (habitat need) help children understand that nature works as an interconnected system, not as isolated objects.

2. Empathy and meaningful relationships with living beings

• By reframing “muddy” as “comfortable and protected,” children practice thinking from an animal’s perspective: “What does this animal need to be okay?”
• The Mud micro-prompt (“Mud helps because…”) creates repeated, simple empathy moments without pausing the game.

3. Curiosity and respect for differences (living beings need different things)

• The game challenges the default idea that “clean is always good.” Children learn that different species have different needs and that nature isn’t “right/wrong,” it’s context-based.
• The Washing micro-prompt (“Need or waste?”) supports critical curiosity: when is intervention caring, and when might it become control?

4. Kindness, fairness, and care (valuing beyond winning)

• Students practice playing competitively without cruelty, using respectful language and emotional regulation when their pigs are cleaned or when rain resets progress.
• The teacher’s framing (“protect people, question actions”) reinforces a values-based approach: we can compete while still caring.

5. Taking responsibility and transforming values into actions

• The Shared Nature Meter makes responsibility visible:
• Washing/Rain reduces Water Drops → water is limited and shared
• Mud/Barn/Rod can increase Care Leaves → protective, stewardship-minded actions
• This helps children connect game behaviour to real-life behaviour: saving water, thinking before acting, protecting living beings, and planning ahead.

6. Human–nature interdependence (shared impact)

• Because the meter is shared, children see that individual actions affect the whole group’s “ecosystem balance.”
• This supports the core idea: valuing nature means noticing consequences and making choices that respect the common good.