The technical field is expanding swiftly and the educational field is no exception. Mobile applications, tablets, and e-learning are integrated into standard pedagogical plans to increase motivation, engagement, and learning outcomes whereas gamification, the method of implementing gaming elements in non-game environments, has been argued to be a useful tool in terms of enhancing both engagement and learning outcomes. It has been demonstrated that gamification is effective when teaching different complex subjects, and environmental sustainability is one of them. With the looming environmental crisis inflicting new issues every year the need for effective education in the subject grows more and more important. However, the integration of gamification, e-learning, and environmental education for younger children remains quite unexplored. This research therefore aims to fill this knowledge gap.

In order to fill the gap, two prototypes with the same content were developed. Firstly, one traditional text-based application worked as a digital book, and the second integrated gamification elements, working as a memory game. The prototypes were tested in a user test with children as participants. Half of the participants tested the digital book and half tested the memory game. The study was supplemented by an interview and an examination taken before and after the user test to determine how much the participants had learned from the application. The statistical results lacked a significant difference both in engagement as well as learning outcomes, however, with a slight favor of the gamified application in terms of engagement and of the digital book in terms of learning outcomes. The qualitative results, on the other hand, provided the insight that participants found the gamified application more fun and engaging, supporting previous research. It also provided observations on the behavior of the participants, such as competitiveness and nervousness, and its effects on the less successful learning outcomes for the gamification application. The findings suggest that while gamification holds potential, its design must be carefully aligned with educational objectives to be truly effective, leaving room for further research to investigate this field.