Third-graders at Northway Elementary School had some visitors recently -- and they brought games.

Graphic design students from La Roche College came to the third-grade classroom in Ross with board games they designed and created for younger children to play.

"Designing a game involves the same processes that graphic designers use," said George Foundes, professor of graphic design.

The La Roche students had to develop a game focused on an ecosystem and geared for third-graders.

"They had to develop a game where the children would be involved and also be entertained. The younger children had to understand the rules and regulations, plus come away learning something," Mr. Foundes said.

Jill Wigley and Carol Nelson, teachers at Northway in the North Hills School District, welcomed the La Roche students to their classrooms, where 36 children eagerly awaited their arrival. Working in groups of two or three, the La Roche students had come up with a variety of games to test out with the Northway third-graders. Game themes varied from rain forest scenarios to the desert to the Arctic. One represented all of the ecosystems.

"It's always fun to see what they come up with. Just like any assignment, some of them fall in love with it and really get into it. Others do it but aren't as invested in it," he said.

Ruth Blum, a sophomore, and Pat Balchak, a senior, designed a game focusing on the rain forest.

"We created a game that had four levels to represent the four layers of the rain forest," Ms. Blum said. The game has a multi-dimensional board with four levels. Children had to answer questions based on facts they read on game cards and then advance through the "forest."

"As they advance through the game, it gets a little bit harder, a bit more complicated," Ms. Blum said.

It got good marks from the players.

"I like it. I like answering the questions," said 8-year-old Lauren Groff, who particularly enjoyed learning about tarantulas and snakes.

"This group is actually going to try and market their game," Mr. Foundes said, noting Anthony Atwood and Lindsay Tichenor's professional-looking design, "The Rain4est" game.

The two juniors created a game in which players use math skills to advance.

"There are animals for each layer of the rain forest that the children can accumulate and then they put them on the 3-D trees," Mr. Atwood said.

While the math for this version of the game was geared to third-graders, Mr. Atwood said it could easily be adjusted to different grade levels with different game cards.

That game also caught the Northway students' attention.

"It is pretty fun," said Connor Cancilla, 9. "I like getting animals to win. It's also fun to solve the math problems."

Ms. Wigley, too, was impressed with the games the La Roche students created. "I would buy these. And they are keeping their interest. When I get out games, they last about 15 minutes, but they are really getting into these."

Ms. Nelson agreed. "I'm so impressed with these games. They look like something that I could buy in the teachers' stores."