The simple spreadsheet displays the names of the furniture used in the room design together with prices of the furniture and the total cost. When items of furniture are added or removed from the design this is shown in the spreadsheet. Prices and images on the spreadsheet are governed by what items of furniture are in the Spex design; if an item price is changed, this will also be changed in the spreadsheet.

A CSV file can be exported so that older children can manipulate their costings in a real spreadsheet like Excel. Read more about Spex as a simple modelling software.

Bar Graphs and Pie Charts

There are bar graphs and pie charts too, including 2D and 3D bar graphs, a line graph and a pie chart to display the items and costs in each room design. The graphs and the spreadsheet can be printed out, and each graph can display item names or images of the furniture, prices or number of items. Here are some of the graphs made available in Spex:

Using a Budget

Spex supports different Maths topics, including budgeting using real life prices. The software automatically calculates any costs, displaying the prices and informing children of the budget they had left, allowing them to easily change the furniture in order to stay within the budget!

The budget window keeps a total of the amount spent and amount of money left to spend, and it keeps a record of the last item added or removed from the design. Design your room to a budget and see the effects of using different items and prices in the graphs and spreadsheet.

Spex is a great introduction to how a budget can affect how one might approach the design. Children can discuss their proposed design to predict when their budget might run out and plan their purchases in advance!

 "Spex + is my

favourite

game.
I like spex 

because it is cool and you

get to design

a  setting

like a room

or a road." 

        Year 5 pupil