One of the culminating outcomes of the Tasmanian Essential Learnings Framework is students who are inquiring and reflective thinkers, able to reason, question, make decisions and solve complex problems.

'Making computer games is a creative activity that can bring together logic, music, mathematics, artwork, planning, teamwork and general IT skills into a task that children find genuinely motivating.  Not only does it challenge and engage children in all sorts of educationally valid ways, but it also seems to provide an opportunity for some children that are not normally academically successful to boost their self-esteem by excelling at this rewarding activity.'    Jacob Habgood http://www.gamelearning.net/

Creating computer games involves distinct cognitive skills and demands the conscious application of strategies of thinking, particularly logic and problem solving.  Klik & Play and other game programming environments, such as Game Maker, are powerful computer-based environments for students to think and learn that 

• are highly motivating for students;
• can get students thinking in new and useful ways;
• increase logical thinking ability and efficient mathematical reasoning;
• promote metacognition ie thinking about thinking;
• support and foster independent problem solving, critical thinking, and cooperative learning;
• provide an opportunity for students to exercise their creativity;
• provide students with a rich, authentic and enjoyable experience, where they learn that defining a purpose is important and planning and testing is crucial to success;
• involve systematic thought, procedural thinking and attention to detail which is likely to lead to enhancement of general problem solving skills;
•  requires students to analyse a task, then take well-defined logical rules and apply them in a creative and unique way to meet a specific objective;
• provide practice in identifying problems, clarifying the issues involved and choosing and monitoring the most effective solutions;
• give opportunities to begin with concrete graphical objects, and gradually progress to more abstract concepts;
• enable students to generalise from specific instances, to systematically examine and represent complex situations, to test by seeking counter-example, to think logically and reason deductively, to analyse and represent tasks and operations, to formally manage logistics etc;
• help to demystify the computer. Programming involves giving instructions to computers. It provides insight into how computers work and how the computer is controlled by programs, leading to an understanding of why computers may, at times, seem to behave in strange and unpredictable ways;
• help students to understand the fundamental principles of software design, not only assisting the student to better understand the software used throughout our society, but he/she develops the critical thinking skills that will help in all areas of life;
• in programming terms, expose students to object-oriented design, variables, event-driven programming, user interface concepts, conditional branching, etc;
• foster further interest in computer programming, which is likely to lead to greater participation and success in Computer Science courses in later years.

Additionally,

• Students are more engaged in class
• They enjoy playing each other's games
• They are keen to swap ideas and help each other solve problems.
• Much more work than normal occurs outside of lesson times.
• There are significant Mathematical Skills Involved in Game Making