As a parent you want to prepare kids for the world. And although technology is central to our society today, there is hardly any teaching on how children can interact responsibly with technology. Programming can help with that.

In this article, we highlight the important skills kids learn by creating technology and programming and how this can make a difference to their future. And you really don’t have to be a techie for that! 😉

Creating technology stimulates…

1. Creativity

When you are creating technology, such as when you are programming games, your curiosity and creativity are stimulated. You learn to creatively come up with different solutions to the same problem and then choose the most efficient solution. Also, when programming games you’re also creatively thinking about what your game should look like.

2. Collaboration

People often work together when they create technology. By working together, you learn from each other. By asking peers for help, you work towards an efficiënt result in collaboration. When programming a game you are not only coding, you are also working with code blocks. Separately they do not mean much. But by combining them and by having them work together, you build an awesome game.

3. Communication

Besides, programming means that you’re collaborating with a computer. And learning to collaborate with a computer is not always easy. A computer does not understand our language… To make the computer understand what you mean, you have to learn to cooperate and communicate in a different way than you might be used to.

4. Problem solving

As mentioned, programming consists largely of solving problems. Children learn to make connections, they investigate what the problem is and they learn to solve it (in a creative way). And all this by learning to use technology.

5. Digital literacy

These are skills that you’ll learn when you create technology. But it is also important to learn how to safely use this technology. We also call this digital literacy.

Learning to use the internet safely is very important nowadays. There’s so much false information and fake news on the internet. By learning how to create technology, you also become aware of the risks of the internet.

For example by using random passwords or by learning how trustworthy a resource is. Creating technology shows what happens to the information they share on the internet and it shows them how easy it is to manipulate information online. By becoming aware of these risks and teaching how to reduce/avoid them, children become more media literate.

By joining a remote bootcamp! At the bootcamp participants learn how technology is created with a focus on online games. Participants learn how games are designed and developed and how you can create games yourself. The remote bootcamp is for all girls and boys at the age of 11-15 who want to learn to create games and develop important skills.</P

There is always a bootcamp to join! Just pick a week that suits you best! Check out more information and dates by clicking the button below.