Geek's online vacation for a modern child

    How can a modern child spend long summer days online doing something really technological? We were puzzled by this question when we started preparing our online program for the summer. We share with you resources that we especially remember.

    Online Programming


    The most popular way to learn programming for children now, of course, is a block-visual language. There are an incredible amount of resources on the Internet that are dedicated to this topic. There is a boom in educational visual programming games. They are aimed, first of all, at preparing the child for working with languages ​​and their syntax. A child learns algorithms, cycles, sequences.

    Many worry at what age to start dealing with a child? It seems to me that you can give such games from 5-6 years old, but without fanaticism! Until the age of 8, a child develops thinking, understanding of cause and effect relationships, logic and imagination. Programming classes can make an important contribution to your child’s training system.

    A selection of different resources can be found here:

    Almost all of them are free.

    There are different courses, not all of which go in the summer, but the selection from the Greenhouse of Social Technologies is: 12 online schools with instruction in Russian, where your children will be taught to program.

    The most successful against this background are:

    Code.org ( www.code.org )


    The creators of the platform really tried and created an interesting resource for learning programming. Many games are already Russified, unlike many other resources. Also, there are tasks for programming on paper. By the way, it was they who, in the last two years, have raised a whole wave around the world, organizing the "Hour of Code."

    Code Hour Home Page
    Code Hour: Task Example

    Lightbot ( lightbot.com )


    You can play both online and simply by installing the game on the tablet. By the way, in the latter case, an Internet connection is no longer required. Why do we like her so much? Firstly, it is very visual and it has tasks that even an adult will think about. Secondly, in the game you can easily master the procedures, algorithms and even recursion! By the way, there are tasks for children from 4 years old.

    Lightbot Case Study

    Scratch ( scratch.mit.edu )


    The most popular and successful option for teaching programming, after all, is still programming on Scratch. Unlike the games described earlier, where programming can only be done as part of the assignment, Scratch can already do everything on its own. Games, cartoons, animated pictures - all this develops the imagination and thinking of the child.

    Scratch Home

    But the discovery for me was that such a child’s, it would seem, system requires sometimes not childish knowledge at all. For example, in order to create a ping-pong game, you will need knowledge of using complex branch operators.



    Minecraft ( minecraft.net )


    Children do not part with this game, teachers build their classes in an online environment and manage to teach children there not only invention and programming, but even biology. This is a resource with unlimited and for many ignored opportunities. Gaming technology in action!

    Connectedcamps camp

    There are separate videos, courses and even an online camp for these technologies, in which, pay attention, there is a direction for adults .

    Adult Camp Direction

    I think it’s time to sign up and, finally, understand how this Minecraft world lives, because, ashamed to admit, for me it's just magic.



    Summer Online Schools and Camps


    Online summer camp is a new alternative to traditional offline camps.

    In this collection you can see interesting options for summer schools - What to do with your child in the summer . Some of them are free, some are paid - at the current dollar exchange rate they are not entirely profitable, and, of course, in English.

    However, one of them really deserves special attention - Maker Camp.

    Maker Camp ( makercamp.com )


    Its organizers were Make and Google. This is a completely free camp, where every day the child is waiting for different tasks collected on the best resources of the Internet. Most often, they are really associated with handwork and invention. Less commonly, with programming. All materials are open! Every day new projects. At the beginning, there’s a video call from the hosts (which, to be honest, I always skip and turn to studying today's projects).

    Just take it and do it - wonder how it is not used? The same thing happened when Google posted its training materials and detailed lesson plans for free on the Internet.

    The only thing is that everything is in English, but Google Translate can help you.

    Maker Camp in English, inside view

    Online summer camp Edu-Kraft ( www.edu-craft.ru )


    In Russian, the first online robotics camp this year is being organized by the Edu Kraft Center. Their format differs from foreign ones in that the classes are taught by mentors in real time and the child can ask, clarify and ask for help at any time in the lesson. Also, in an online lesson, children can get acquainted and see children from different parts of our country, expanding their understanding of the world’s structure and creating a network of useful contacts for developing future projects. Moreover, the camp serves as an addition to summer weekdays.

    For programming robots in an online camp, an innovative development of Russian developers is used - TRIC Studio. Its capabilities include simulating the operation of the robot in conditions close to real. Thus, this makes it possible to evaluate the algorithms of the robot in different environments and to look at its behavior, reducing the time for software development and, in some cases, keeping the real robot safe and sound.

    The organizers did not ignore the issue of invention (or makerism, as it is now fashionable to call it) and included in the course the creation of robot models from improvised “flexible” materials.

    The first online robotics camp Edu Kraft

    How would you spend your geek vacation online?

    Ekaterina Dneprovskaya,
    CEO Edu-Kraft

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