Description of the activity 

The last mobility of the Erasmus+ project ‘Train your Brain’ was held from 28th March to the 4th of May 2023 in Kayseri,Turkey. This activity's target objective were; Observation and exchange of experiences to properly complete the 'TRAIN YOUR BRAIN' Project.Participants were 22 students and 12 accompanying teachers. 

On Saturday April 29th all the participants were welcomed by the school teachers,students and the welcoming ceremony took place with the songs from Turkish Mehteran band.Then,Turkey and Kayseri,Turkish lifestyle and education system were introduced to the guests by the presentations.After that partner countries introduced their countries,cities and schools.Ice breaking activities called ‘’Bingo and Parasite’’ were applied.In the afternoon some Brain Teaser activities like Qbitz, were realized related to visual spatial intelligence.There was a guided tour from the Turkish students who took students and teachers around Kayseri culture way including museums and historical places.

On Sunday,April 30th, different activities and competitions with Strategy games that are important for students' learning and holistic development  like Sumo,Reversi,Kulami,Pentago and kakuro were played.Various activities were carried out with origami in order to improve the hand and eye coordination of the students.In the afternoon,a guided tour was arranged to Kayseri Science center in order to demonstrate that anyone can think creatively and develop their creative thinking skills and to learn better about the universe.A project evaluation dinner was held and a preparation for the final report was done.And also a farewell party was arranged for the students and teachers with the traditional Turkish folk dance group and an Erasmus cake.

On Monday the 1st of May,traditional games like Mangala and whipping top were introduced and students both had fun and developed their mental and physical skills.Then,Student groups consisting of International teams competed in different obstacle paths including archery,sack race,balance game,hopscotch and matching game.

On the 2nd and 3rd of May,a trip to Cappadocıa region was arranged along with the different cultural activities, to show the partner students and teachers the combination of natural formations and the cradle of the ancient civilizations with the aim of strengthening  cultural ties among partner countries and creating a peaceful and friendly atmosphere among students and help them to stay away from digital tools which is our principal aim while carrying out this Project.Participation certificates were also presented to attendants.

A common booklet  about teaching methodologies of Brain Teasers was prepared and handed out to the participants. Each participating school aggreed to arrange a school exhibition.To reach the final conclusions,questionnaries were applied to teachers and students. All the learning content was uploaded  to facebook,Project website and schools’ websites.

On the 4th of May, guests departured.

 Thanks to the activities related to visual spatial intelligence, the participants improved their ability to learn by seeing, to remember what they saw quickly and easily, and to analyze and reach conclusions.

-While playing strategy games like; Reversi,Sumo,Kulami,Pentago and Kakuro,students succeed in developing key competences, cognitive functions (lateral thinking, vertical thinking; designer thinking) and soft skills for our students (communication, teamwork, time management, flexibility, adaptability) within an attractive educational approach.We also encouraged teachers to develop tools and techniques to introduce gamification in the classroom.

- During the origami activity, students were able to easily internalize the phenomenon of transformation, one of the most important dynamics of life, by shaping ordinary pieces of paper beautifully.

-Updated web pages provided the students following up the project workings.

-During the parkour games, students acquired movement training that improves their balance, coordination and flexibility skills, and we gave them self-confidence by giving them a sense of achievement.

-Thanks to cultural  excursion to Cappadocia,the students had the opportunity to see the real-world context of their school learning, they had the opportunity to get information from primary sources by meeting with experts, and thus they had the opportunity to gain knowledge, skills and experiences that they could not obtain in the classroom environment during the trips in real-world contexts.

-Questionnaries helped us to evaluate the whole project process.

-Brain Tesers booklets contributed to easy and quick learning of the Brain Teasers and dissemination of the project work.