Loco Roco teaches Japanese kids how to divide and multiply

Filed under: News

Those silly balloon creatures in Loco Roco are doing more than their usual passive in-game combining and dividing -- they're taking those skills and teaching kids how to do it for themselves. Wait, before you get confused, we don't mean kids are attaching themselves to one another to make one giant kid ... we mean that the Loco Roco are actively teaching kids all about multiplication, division, and basic arithmetic. Don't get any funny ideas.

While the actual Loco Roco game isn't used in the classroom, its characters are presented in visual aids. According to Famitsu, this unique way of teaching mathematics to children has been done recently at an elementary school in Chiba, Japan. The next class? Physics 101 with Dragon Ball Z.

It's great to see the Loco Roco helping out with what they do best, and we can't wait to see this become a fully institutionalized part of the teaching curriculum. Maybe, someday. It's also nice knowing that the PSP is becoming more and more edu-friendly.