This winter break, move beyond the ordinary and unlock a world of adventure and discovery with our specially curated winter camps for kids. Designed to ignite passion and foster new skills, our programs offer a perfect blend of exhilarating outdoor fun, immersive cultural experiences, and hands-on creative learning – all against the dynamic backdrop of China’s capital. Let your child turn the winter months into a memorable journey of growth, friendship, and endless possibility.

Check out #wintercamp on jingkids to find info on the latest camps this winter.

Kick & Code Winter Edition is an exciting holiday camp that mixes football and coding!

Born from the partnership of SAFA (a passionate South American football academy) and Creativa (a creative ed-tech company) right here in Beijing, our camp helps kids stay active and healthy while learning real coding skills.

Every day, young players enjoy fun football training with professional coaches and teamwork games on the field. At the same time, they discover programming through easy, hands-on projects that spark curiosity and creativity.

Kick & Code is more than a camp – it’s where sport meets technology, friends are made, and future skills are built… all with lots of laughter and energy!

What can the kids expect to learn?

At Kick & Code Winter Edition, kids get the best of both worlds – football and coding!

Football skills:

• Exciting daily training with professional coaches
• Better kicking precision, speed, and ball control
• Fun matches and team games that keep everyone moving and happy

Coding & Technology skills:

• Soccer-themed coding lessons that feel like play
• Build real soccer robots using Lego Education, block coding, Micro:bit, and Arduino
• Program robots to dribble, pass, and score goals in our amazing tech stadium
• New this winter: special electronic calculators that measure kick power and angle to help players kick more accurately!

What kind of kids is this camp perfect for?

Kick & Code Winter Edition is perfect for boys and girls who are 5 to 14 years old

• Love football (or want to love it more!)
• Are curious about robots, coding, or how things work
• Enjoy moving their body AND their brain at the same time
• Like making new friends and working in teams
• Are between 5 and 14 years old

Basic information:
Price: From RMB 2,000 to RMB 4,700
Dates: December 15 to January 2
Time: 9 AM to 3 PM
Location: Western Academy Beijing & 798 Art Zone  (Indoor Football Field all in the same venue)
Sign by deadline: So the sooner you join, the better the deal and the surer the spot!

Images: Creativa

This winter break, move beyond the ordinary and unlock a world of adventure and discovery with our specially curated winter camps for kids. Designed to ignite passion and foster new skills, our programs offer a perfect blend of exhilarating outdoor fun, immersive cultural experiences and hands-on creative learning – all within the dynamic backdrop of China’s capital. Let your child turn the winter months into a memorable journey of growth, friendship and endless possibility.

Check out #wintercamp on jingkids to find info on the latest camps this winter.

Young Coders Academy Winter Camp

Let’s learn a bit more about what Young Coders Academy is.

This winter, Young Coders Academy invites students to explore coding and robotics through a festive and creative learning journey.

From playful coding for our youngest learners to advanced robotics and engineering for juniors, each program blends fun, technology and innovation, offering hands-on experiences that inspire curiosity and confidence. The camp runs across two weeks with different modules to select from, so students can join one or both sessions to experience new projects, themes and challenges.

What can the kids expect to learn?

Programming and engineering skills suitable for their age group: Baby Coders 5-7 years old, Mini Coders 7-10 years old, and Junior Coders 10-14 years old.

What kind of kids is this camp perfect for?

The camp is aimed at students between the ages of 5 and 14 years old.

Basic information:
Price: RMB 500-RMB 1,000 deposit
Dates: Dec 22 to Dec 26 and Dec 29 to Jan 2
Time: 10am-4pm
Location: Downtown – Liangmaqiao with Shunyi route
Sign-Up Deadline: Dec 28

How can you get in touch?
WeChat: Young-Coders-Academy
Sign-up link: https://form.typeform.com/to/HuwyGOyP?typeform-source=qrcode-button

If you’re running a great winter camp and you’d like to get in touch with us to share the info, please add Mina on WeChat at Wilhelmina87 or scan the QR code below.

Images: Young Coders Academy

You still have time to book it over to the Jingkids Summer Fling today from 10am-6pm, but until then, we have two great camps that we’re sure those curious kids of yours will love!

Kidtopia Summer Camp 2021

Ages: 4-9 Years Old
Short description: The summer camp at KCM is an unforgettable, fun-filled summer camp where campers spend their entire day exploring creative ideas, making memories, and building friendships, all while learning. This camp is largely guided by just how unusual the past school year has been. That’s why KCM decided to align its projects with age-appropriate school curricula. Give your child an extra boost in academic subjects like English (reading and writing), Math (supplemented by logic and reasoning), and Science (hands-on activities with technology). Likewise, there will be art and engineering classes to keep younger learners engaged.
Who: KCM, Kidtopia Children’s Museum
What:  KCM, Kidtopia Children’s Museum is an international education group founded in 2015. It provides high-quality afterschool programs and summer camps that cover a range of disciplines including STEAM, Math, Reading and Writing, Science, Language Arts, and Art and Design. These KCM learning experiences are designed to not only get children interested and engaged in STEAM and other courses but develop tangible skills and 21st-century proficiencies to help them become successful lifelong learners.
Where: 北京市朝阳区小亮马桥路安家楼村1号橙天娱乐集团园区1号楼 KCM国际教育; Search Baidu Maps for KCM 国际教育
When: Jul 26-Aug 20
Teacher to Child Ratio: 1:5
Language: All courses are conducted in English (except Mandarin classes); PE classes are bilingual
Prices: RMB 4,800-RMB 4,980/week, 5% off for KCM members, RMB 500 off for early-bird
Curriculum: NGSS Standards guided curriculum using teaching content from reputed publishers such as McGraw Hill, Nat Geo Kids, NASA Kids, DK, Scholastic, and MacMillan Education. All foreign educators are qualified teachers with thousands of teaching hours under their belt.
Conclusion: At the end of the summer camp children will be invited to an exhibition party where they will display their work and get certificates that will be valuable accolades in their academic endeavors.
About: KCM is run by a core group of education experts who are alumni of Harvard Graduate School of Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, and Beijing Normal University.
More Info: 

WanTrain Summer Coding Camp

Ages: 6-17 Years Old
Short description: During this two-week boot camp, students engage in hands-on activities and lessons to ensure they understand and develop the necessary skills to solve coding problems.
Who: WanTrain Educational Technology
What: Summer Coding Camp
Where: Two locations; Krypton Space Liangmaqiao and Riviera Club Shunyi
When:
Jul 5-16
Jul 19-30
Aug 2-13
Aug 16-27
Teacher to Child Ratio: 1:8
Language: English as the main language, with additional French and Chinese support if needed
Prices:
RMB 2,100/three days
RMB 3,000/five days
RMB 5,600/ten days
*Snacks and soft beverages provided
Curriculum: Young coders will start with the basics of comprehending and mastering advanced computer languages, such as game making with Scratch, mobile app design, Sphero Robotics, code games with Python, and web development with HTML. Group size is limited to eight students for a more personalized learning experience.
Age Group Categories:
Group I Mini Coders: 6-8 years old
Group II Junior Coders: 9-12 years old
Group III Teenage Coders: 13-17 years old.
Conclusion: Upon completion of a full ten-day course, each student will be awarded the following:
Certificate of Completion
Ollie Darkside Robot
USB drive containing the summer camp’s lesson codes and a booklet with the summer camp’s lesson contents
About: WanTrain Educational Technology specializes in science technology workshops, school holiday boot camps, and weekend coding classes for students between the ages of 6-17. Young coders learn how to become makers of various apps, games, websites, and more!
More Info:

KEEP READING: Drumroll, Please: Announcing the Summer Camps You’ll Meet Saturday at the Jingkids Summer Fling!

Images: Courtesy of the camps

We have some updates on all the great winter camps around Beijing, which now have options for kids as early as 18 months! So don’t fear, parents, you have lots of choices for all ages, and all kinds of educational fun the kids can enjoy on their holiday break. The new additions are at the top.

Many of these camps are in Beijing, but some travel elsewhere. Please be aware that if you travel outside of Beijing for any reason, many schools in Chaoyang District require students to provide a nucleic acid test within seven days of returning to school. The requirements can change at any time with new information, so use caution when making plans. – Acting Editor’s Note

The Children’s House Winter Camp Programs

Montessori Toddler Winter Camp
Who: 18 months – 3 years
When: Dec 21-25 (9am-12.15pm). Snack and lunch included.
Dec 28-31 (9am-12.15pm). Snack and lunch included.
Where: The Children’s House International Kindergarten, Haofeng Sports Park, Yaojiayuan north road, Chaoyang (in sports park) (朝阳区姚家园北路豪丰体育公园内巧智博仁国际幼儿园)
Fees: RMB 1,750 1st week, RMB 1,400 2nd week
How: 39 1070 6224 or Scan QR code

The Children’s House: Scout’s Honor
Who: Ages 3-6
What: The Children’s House is pairing with TTCLUB International Scouts to solve age-appropriate problems and tasks, such as directional tracking, Roman chariots, tent-building, and so much more.
When: Dec 21-25 (9am-3pm) Snacks and lunch included.
Where: The Children’s House International Kindergarten, Haofeng Sports Park, Yaojiayuan north road, Chaoyang (in sports park) (朝阳区姚家园北路豪丰体育公园内巧智博仁国际幼儿园)
Fees: RMB 3,500
How: 39 1070 6224 or scan QR code

The Children’s House: Chinese Treasures
Who: Ages 3-6
What: Children will experience rich and colorful activities, such as the Chinese tea ceremony, Beijing opera, shadow puppetry,  and the carefully designed architecture of famous landmarks. There’s also a surprise field trip.
When: Dec 28-31 (9am–3pm). Snacks and lunch included.
Where: The Children’s House International Kindergarten, Haofeng Sports Park, Yaojiayuan north road, Chaoyang (in sports park) (朝阳区姚家园北路豪丰体育公园内巧智博仁国际幼儿园)
Fees: RMB 3,000
How: 39 1070 6224 or scan QR code

The Hutong Ski Winter Camp

Stop Motion Animation Workshop

Who: Ages 8-12
When: Dec 26-Jan1 (7 days, includes the opening and closing day)
Where: Xizhou, Dali
Fee: RMB 12,800/student, RMB 3,800/accompanying parent, RMB 5,800/two accompanying parents (includes teaching, teaching materials, family activities, accommodation and meals in LC hotels, innovation education seminars; excludes transportation to Xizhou)
How: Scan QR code below

Weekend Camps at Culture Yard

If you’re just looking for weekend camps this winter, scan the QR code for the Culture Yard to find out more about their programs.

Mad Science Bilingual Engineering Camp

Who: Ages 6-12
When: Dec 14-Dec 18
Where: Shunyi
What: Bilingual Engineering Camp (lamp building; treehouse design, building, testing, and decoration; roller coaster study, building, testing, and modification)
Fee: RMB 5,980
Tel: Lisa, 132 6928 5353
WeChat: madsciencebeijing123

Mad Science Secret Agent Lab

Who: Ages 4-10
When: Dec 28-Jan 1 (9am-4:30pm)
Where: Shunyi
What: Junior Detective Camp (Secret messages; gizmos and gadgets; crime scene adventures; insect helpers; liquid testing; and laser bouncer)
Fee: RMB 5,980
Tel: Lisa, 132 6928 5353
WeChat: madsciencebeijing123

WanTrain Christmas Holiday Coding Camp

Who:  Ages 6-10
When: Dec 21-24 (9am-1pm and 2-5:30pm)
Where: Krypton Space, Liangmaqiao
What:
Day I: Scratch beginner
Day II: Scratch intermediate
Day III: Kodu game Lab
Day IV: Sphero robotics

Who: Ages 11-17
When: Dec 28-31 (9am-1pm and 2-5:30pm)
Where: Riviera Club, Shunyi
What: Scratch advanced; Sphero robotics; build video games with Python PyGame I; build video games with Python PyGame II.

Fee: 750 RMB/day or 2800 RMB/camp*
*Bring a sibling or a friend along and enjoy RMB 300 discount
**Includes snacks and soft beverages, and each student will receive a free programmable robot, a coding booklet for training, and a certificate of completion!
Tel: 130 2197 1700

TIE Family Club 2020 Christmas Camp: Storytelling, Music, and Arts

Who: Ages 7-12 
When: Dec 28-Jan 1 (10am-3.30pm)
Where: Today Art Museum
What: Storytelling: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe; guitar time; and Pastel Nagomi art workshops
Fee: RMB 3,900-4,100*
*Half days available. Full camp days include lunch and snacks.
WeChat ID: TieFamilyClub
Tel: 135 2218 6203

BIBA Winter Camps

Wild China Beijing Winter Olympics Camp

Who: Ages 12-16 
When: Session 1: Dec 26-31; Session 2: Jan 26-31
Where: Chongli
What: Ski camp and learning survival skills for the winter, including snow shelters, identifying natural disasters, and night exploration hike.
WeChat ID: WildChina_Journeys (or email education@wildchina.com)
Fee: RMB 9,100 

Age: Group A: 8-18 y/o, Group B: 14-18 y/o
Price: RMB 4,000/block
Dates: Block 1: Dec 21-25, Block 2: Dec 28-Jan 1
Location: Tianjin
Transport: Departure from BSB SLT at 7.30am, arrival at JCST Center at 8.45am; Departure from JCST Center 3pm, arrival at BSB SLT at 4.15pm
Departure from ISB Shunyi 7.45am, arrival 8.45am; departure from training center 3pm, arrival 4pm
Transport fee: Contact for fees. If fewer than 10 participants, the transport will be canceled.
Flips & Kicks Plus and its cooperative partners are not responsible for any delays caused by traffic or other factors in relation to the transport. If there is interest, transportation from SLT/CBD can also be arranged.
Food: Flips & Kicks Plus supplies water and fruit each day. Participants can bring their own lunch or order Chinese food at the venue.
Food fee: RMB 250/block.

Stay Over: Why not stay over in Tianjin during the week and enjoy the beautiful landscape surrounding the training center? For more information please contact us.

Location: JCST action film training center in Tianjin
Age:  Group A 4-7 y/o, Group B 8-12 y/o
Cost: RMB 4,000/block
Dates: Block 1: Dec 21-25. Block 2: Dec 28-Jan 1
Time: 9am-2.30pm (full day only)
Transport: Departure from BSB SLT at 7.30am, arrival at JCST Center at 8.45am; Departure from JCST Center 3pm, arrival at BSB SLT at 4.15pm
Departure from ISB Shunyi at 7.45am, arrival at JCST Center at 8.45am; Departure from JCST Center at 3pm, arrival at ISB Shunyi at 4pm
Transport Fee: Contact for fees.  If fewer than 10 sign-ups from each transportation venue, the transport will be canceled.
Snack & Food: Flips & Kicks Plus supply fruit per day and water. Please bring your own snacks. In case you like to order Chinese food at the venue it’s an additional RMB 250/block.

KEEP READING: Bundle Up and Join the Holiday Cheer All Across Beijing!

Photos: Pexels, from organizers

As much as we’re all looking forward to turkey and delicious pies, December winter break also looms large, with fewer options for getaways than in past years. Winter camps, then, will be key for any families trying to fend off boredom and too much screen time. Luckily, we already have arts, science, survival training, coding, and even secret agent training on the agenda! Here are our top picks for winter camps for ages 4-16:

Mad Science Bilingual Engineering Camp

Who: Ages 6-12
When: Dec 14-Dec 18
Where: Shunyi
What: Bilingual Engineering Camp (Lamp building; treehouse design, building, testing, and decoration; roller coaster study, building, testing, and modification)
Fee: RMB 5,980
Tel: Lisa, 132 6928 5353
WeChat: madsciencebeijing123

Mad Science Secret Agent Lab

Who: Ages 4-10
When: Dec 28-Jan 1 (9am-4:30pm)
Where: Shunyi
What: Junior Detective Camp (Secret messages; gizmos and gadgets; crime scene adventures; insect helpers; liquid testing; and laser bouncer)
Fee: RMB 5,980
Tel: Lisa, 132 6928 5353
WeChat: madsciencebeijing123

WanTrain Christmas Holiday Coding Camp

Who:  Ages 6-10
When: Dec 21-24 (9am-1pm and 2-5:30pm)
Where: Krypton Space, Liangmaqiao
What:
Day I: Scratch beginner
Day II: Scratch intermediate
Day III: Kodu game Lab
Day IV: Sphero robotics

Who: Ages 11-17
When: Dec 28-31 (9am-1pm and 2-5:30pm)
Where: Riviera Club, Shunyi
What: Scratch advanced; Sphero robotics; build video games with Python PyGame I; build video games with Python PyGame II.

Fee: 750 RMB/day or 2800 RMB/camp*
*Bring a sibling or a friend along and enjoy RMB 300 discount
**Includes snacks and soft beverages, and each student will receive a free programmable robot, a coding booklet for training, and a certificate of completion!
Tel: 130 2197 1700

TIE Family Club 2020 Christmas Camp: Storytelling, Music, and Arts

Who: Ages 7-12 
When: Dec 28-Jan 1 (10am-3.30pm)
Where: Today Art Museum
What: Storytelling: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe; guitar time; and Pastel Nagomi art workshops
Fee: RMB 3,900-4,100*
*Half days available. Full camp days include lunch and snacks.
WeChat ID: TieFamilyClub
Tel: 135 2218 6203

BIBA Winter Camps

Wild China Beijing Winter Olympics Camp

Who: Ages 12-16 
When: Session 1: Dec 26-31; Session 2: Jan 26-31
Where: Chongli
What: Ski camp and learning survival skills for the winter, including snow shelters, identifying natural disasters, and night exploration hike.
WeChat ID: WildChina_Journeys (or email education@wildchina.com)
Fee: RMB 9,100 

KEEP READING: So You Want To Be a Game Developer: What It Takes To Make Gaming a Career

Photos: Pexels, from groups

Our latest November issue gives parents a great guide to technology, and games can also introduce kids to lifelong passions and careers. We turned to local game designer Ben “Books” Schwartz for ideas on how to turn gaming and storytelling into a fulfilling job.

A Look Behind The Pixelated Curtain

Shanghai has long been the hub of the Chinese video game ecosystem, but Beijing is now making a play for that crown. The ambitious “E-Sports Beijing 2020” initiative, announced in August, is providing funding for Beijing-based video game teams, arenas, events, and developers. This comes in a time of explosive growth for the gaming world by every metric — more people are playing more games (and spending more money on games!) than ever before.

But those games don’t come from thin air — every one of them is made by actual people. So the growth of the game industry means that more people than ever are making games. That’s a trend that seems likely to continue indefinitely, meaning that an ever-growing percentage of today’s youth will grow up to follow careers in the video game world. And really, who can blame them? As a game designer myself, I can confirm that game development is a very exciting field and an enormous amount of fun. It’s also a whole lot of work, most of which the players never see. So what does it actually take to bring a video game to life?

The Elements of Game Creation

Making a game requires contributions from numerous different disciplines. Game designers are the backbone, thinking through the mechanics of what the player will actually do and figuring out what’s fun. Writers and narrative designers (like me!) create a story for the game and invent characters and a world, as well as writing every bit of text that shows up in the game. Programmers take those ideas and turn them into code, which they tweak over and over again until it works right. Artists and animators illustrate the characters, backgrounds, special effects, and menu screens. Audio engineers, composers, and voice actors make music, sound effects, and voiceovers. Testers play the game over and over again, looking for glitches and ways to make the game more fun.

These disciplines don’t work in isolation, either. Everyone needs to communicate and collaborate to solve problems and put the pieces together. If part of a game is boring, the fix could be in the form of a more engaging story (writing), a more intense challenge (design), cooler special effects (art), a smoother play experience (programming), or something else entirely!

Many games are made by dozens of people working together in departments focused on these disciplines (not to mention the business side of game making: marketing, hiring, project management, and so on). At smaller game studios, each person can wind up wearing half a dozen different hats. Maybe the game designer also writes the story, or the soundtrack composer is also the voice of the main character. A rare few incredibly talented people do every part of the game creation process by themselves! But that kind of solo game development is a long and lonely road that few see to completion.

So You Want To Be A Gamedev

If you want to make games of your own, there’s no need to wait! Making games has never been easier. It’s certainly a lot easier than when I was a kid in the 90s, trying to cobble together my own text adventures in C++! There are tons of resources and advice freely available for aspiring young game designers.

The first step is to start thinking about games. If you’re someone who plays a lot of games, don’t just play them passively! Analyze each part of the game and ask yourself how and why they work. What decisions do you think the game designers made when they were creating the game? There are some excellent YouTube creators who do very accessible game design analysis videos–I particularly recommend The Game Maker’s Toolkit, People Make Games, Extra Credits, and noclip.

If there’s a particular part of game creation that excites you, develop those skills outside of just games! If you want to be a programmer, learn the basics of coding! If you want to write games, write some short stories! If you want to be a game artist, get painting! If you want to be a game designer, get out construction paper and cardboard and make a board game for you and your friends to playtest!

And of course, if you want to try your hand at making games for other people to play, systems like Roblox provide a perfect framework for that. You can build a game quickly and easily, with much of the art and programming backbone already taken care of. Roblox is by far the biggest platform of its kind, but it’s not the only one. If you want to write story games, Twine is a free simple engine for scripting choose-your-own-adventures. If you’re feeling ambitious, RPG Maker and Game Maker are powerful tools that are easy to start on but deep enough to build commercial-scale games (and have been used to do so).

But the most important thing about making games–whether you’re a hobbyist, aspiring developer, or full-time pro — is also the most important thing about playing games: don’t forget to have fun!

Ben “Books” Schwartz is a writer and game designer based in Beijing. They believe that stories and play can change the world.

 

KEEP READING: Screen Time Isn’t All Bad: Lessons to be Mined From Mario, Minecraft and More

Photos: Canva, #WOCinTech, Cindy Marie Jenkins

I spent the entire summer between seventh and eighth grade trying to beat Super Mario Bros. My best friends and I worked together to teach each other the ways to beat every level, from the first castle to the last, from Princess Daisy to Princess Peach, from Bowser Junior to the villain Bowser himself.

When alone, I played Tetris, Dr. Mario — all those puzzle games that challenged my brain to move quickly and fit various shaped blocks into the right formation. That “whoosh” sound that signified a “Tetris” washed over me like a warm ocean wave: a signal of both success and accomplishment, turning my little corner of preteen chaos into order and achievement.

Tetris can be very satisfying.

That’s probably why I was never scared of my kids eventually playing video games. After all, I enjoyed gaming as just another activity among many. It’s hard to separate the parental stigma of screen time and video games with very real lessons my kids learn from their games. I’ve witnessed real-life social, developmental, and educational skills that children learn while playing video games like Minecraft, Roblox, Civilization, and more. Lest you think I’m just trying to soothe my own screentime soul, I also asked teachers and influencers to weigh in on this topic.

Social skills

Taking turns, playing fair, and teamwork: these are constant reminders for anyone playing video games. We don’t use the word sharing as often as we encourage kids to “take turns” and that is exactly what they must do in gameplay. Oftentimes it’s forced on them, but that rhythm of letting go after you make mistakes and lose a turn follows into a child’s daily life.

Persistence

How hard is it to win some of these games? It wasn’t until I tried to play my old standbys twenty years later that I remembered just how hard some parts are. We use their game time to explore how hard it is to stay persistent and try your best, understanding that your best only gets better the more you practice.

Mr. Devreaux Poole, Primary Learning and Teaching Coordinator at Yew Chung International School of Beijing (YCIS Beijing), also believes that games “offer a safe environment [for children]to explore and challenge themselves. They’re able to build self-confidence as they are able to ‘reset’ when making mistakes,” and in addition, “Delayed gratification is taught (acquired) as the ‘main reward/goal/prize,’ usually only achieved after completing several levels.”

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

Poole also adds that “Many video games require critical thinking and problem-solving skills and also stimulate creativity.” I couldn’t agree more! There’s no counting the number of times when my or another child will explain a secret to beating this level or suggest a different way to tackle an obstacle in a game, and they’re right! Sure, sometimes they learn from watching gamer playthroughs, where you literally watch someone online play through a certain level or part of a game, but more often than not I see them apply the knowledge they saw to a different problem and are able to move ahead in the game on their own merits.

Video games can introduce kids to a career in coding.

Community

Blogger and influencer Sally Tian works in the software industry and sees huge social benefits from gaming through her roommate’s experience, among others. ”He came from a small city in China before getting into a top tier university, and the online gaming community provided a good window and perspective to the outside world that he wasn’t able to find in his town. That’s why I think games are a good way to not only learn factual knowledge about the world but also help kids develop stronger social bonds and create a sense of community.”

Money and Math

Another aspect of Super Mario Odyssey, Mario Party, and many more games is that you must earn a certain number of points, coins, etc before you can purchase items in-game that give you more powers or costumes, whatever the case may be.

I couldn’t get my kids to watch a Zoom math class, yet also couldn’t keep them away from an online course called “Mario Math,” which used characters and concepts from the Super Mario world to help them understand ways of approaching math and problem-solving that make their in-classroom learning better today.

English

Minecraft activity books and Minecraft encyclopedias as well as fictionalized stories of the world are how I kept their attention on English concepts through quarantine, and still do today.

Let kids read what they love and they’ll never stop!

Digital Citizenship

Poole also believes that playing video games can aid in “developing of transferable Information and Communications Technology (ICT) skills.” By starting them down the road of playing games within communities and privately, kids are introduced to concepts like keeping your passwords safe, public servers versus private ones, usernames, and how one’s identity online must match behavior offline for people to continue wanting to play with you.

Pranking

Because we watched a lot of Minecraft gamers’ playthroughs, my oldest was introduced to the idea of pranking early in his gaming career. Through Minecraft, he learned quickly that some people don’t want to be pranked, especially when that means your supposed partner in the game hacks down a house you’ve spent hours building inside the game because that’s what he’s seen his favorite gamers do to their friends. We had a pretty serious talk after that incident, explaining the subtleties of pranking and how both parties need to be “in” on it if it is to be a fun prank. I’ve since watched him handle his gaming maturely and remove that pranking concept from offline playtime.

Society

Tian is not a big gamer herself, but has “observed that some of the smartest, most creative people had learned about the world through video games.” One game she does play is Civilization, where a player, through making a series of choices, aims to grow his or her country from a rural nomadic tribe to a futuristic society. “The game is incredibly complex and has taught me so much about how society, technology, economics, and even philosophy can be shaped,” says Tian.

Many teenagers teach themselves how to use technology to be part of their favorite gaming worlds.

Self Expression Through Video Production

It is inevitable that starting a game will lead to watching tutorials and playthroughs of that game. Poole sees gaming playthroughs as an extension of a world we adults might already understand: “Gaming is seen as a sport these days, therefore, watching a playthrough is similar to watching a recorded sporting event such as football, basketball, rugby, tennis etc.” I tend to lean on the website Common Sense Media to learn which gamers are family-friendly and which are more mature, but even more inevitable than watching these is that a child will then want to create their own playthroughs and have their own video channel. We used this curiosity to teach our kids the basics of operating a video camera, and how to apply the presentation skills they learn in show-and-tell towards being an on-camera host. I know older kids who taught themselves camerawork through online tutorials, then researched video and audio editing to create better gaming videos.

Kids can still learn a lot of these skills with LEGO bricks and board games; however, it’s good to see the nuances in how video games help with a child’s development so we can lean into their interests instead of always fighting it.

KEEP READING: Weaning Kids Off Screen Time Post-COVID

Photos: Canva, Cindy Marie Jenkins, Pexels, Unsplash

This article appeared in the beijingkids 2020 November issue

It’s nearly impossible to live a full life these days if you are a Luddite. The world is filled with technology; everything from communication to how we shop and even learn these days is done via phones and computers. But even though most of us, both young and old, might be fairly proficient in using our phones and computers, it’s safe to say not many of us quite know “how the sausage is made.”

For Fernando Colaco, coding has been a way of life for 30 years. He started when he was twelve and has never looked back. Like most kids who grew up in the pre-mobile-world, the bells and whistles of arcade games attracted him; he grew ever more curious about what was inside the blaring machines. In the end, a few TVs and radios had to be sacrificed to the cause of his curiosity and learning, but it was a worthy sacrifice because thirty years on, Colaco is still living his best tech dream. We spoke to Colaco on his plans for the future and his upcoming coding camp for kids.

Students decide their own project and path for the coding camp.

Tell us a bit more about your company.

Colaco Technology Co Ltd, or 科莱科（北京）科技有限公司, was recently opened in the middle of the virus outbreak. After passing through a few companies, some startups, and large corporations, I decided it was time to start a team here, and that’s how Colaco Technology was born. Rather than betting on a single idea, product or service, the focus was to assemble a team with skills, experience, and very importantly, a love for their work. This way we can make any simple or complex project come to life, both client projects, as well as some of our own.

Colaco’s students also learn from one another.

What inspired you to start a coding camp for kids?

I always did these workshops intermittently in Beijing and a few other cities in China. The workshop is not really only for kids. Occasionally some “grown-up kids” are also part of it. It is also great for anyone curious about coding, and the usual problem is always the “where to start” issue, without getting lost, or scared. In China, I decided to refine the content for kids, which only needs some adjustments in pace. Kids learn much faster than adults. It also needs a different approach for going through some of the concepts, as well as adding some challenges, activities, and some fun.

What is the aim of these camps for kids?

My goal is quite simple. First, I want kids to learn something out of this, not just sit and copy whatever I churn out on my screen and share with them on a projector, or worse, force them to do through a boring and never-ending PowerPoint presentation. Secondly, I want to trigger their curiosity and let them explore, change, watch what happens, make mistakes and understand how those affect the results of what they are doing so they can fix those same mistakes. Third, I want them to understand that they can continue exploring and becoming better on their own, at their own pace, and this is not a trap to subscribe them to some long curriculum where they will be bored after a short while. And fourth, I want them to not be afraid of coding, and this is not something they will acquire after several years in university and another few years at some large company. No one needs to be a genius to become a coder, the same way you don’t need to be a genius to do addition and subtraction or speak in a new language.

What, if any, is the curriculum you use to teach kids how to code?

There’s no linear curriculum in my workshops, mostly because it all starts with all the kids deciding what they want to create during that day or two. They get involved in some teamwork, brainstorming, and collaboration becomes part of it. Most times, it will be a game, and it can go as wild as their collective imagination can. Then, anchored to the ideas and goals they want to achieve to make that game become a reality materialized in their computer and mobile phone by the end of the day, I explain and go through each of the basic concepts of programming that they need to understand, using the features, elements or concepts they chose for their idea. And that’s how the workshop goes. The pace is adapted so no one is left behind. They start solving most of the problems on their own throughout the day. They start to understand all they need in the coding world by using those concepts in practice: variables, functions, conditions, loops, and a few more essential concepts.

Fernando Colaco

How did COVID-19 affect these camps initially and how were you able to pull through?

During COVID-19 times the workshop was suspended, since this is a hands-on approach and again doesn’t go through any linear curriculum that self-deprecates quickly. Kids had plenty of free tutorials available online that they can follow on their own, and they would benefit from that much more than spending hours on online live video classes. Now everything is opening up again and the workshop will be back soon, in early October. We have a nice classroom at our courtyard and we will collaborate with an art school there. We will offer soon a new workshop based on Generative Art, which means using numbers, logic, some randomness, and some rules and conditions to make art from your code. This is also a playful (and fun) way to approach the coding universe, similar to the game making approach (which we will also continue offering later). This Generative Art workshop is shorter (one full day rather than two), and we decided to cut the price a lot, to be accessible and affordable to more kids after these difficult times. The one-day workshop will be available for RMB 1000 (lunch included) rather than the previous RMB 4000 (two days). A website is being put in place and anyone can check it for more information, or subscribe to get notified when the workshop starts and booking can be done.

What plans do you have for the future both for your business and the coding workshops?

The workshop will be a constant on weekends (both Saturday and Sunday). Not only because I really love to do it but also because I like to see talent emerging at a young age, and many kids are really good at it, and they wouldn’t find it if there were no hand-on offers such as this. They just need to know where to start and not get stuck on those first steps (or stuck in some dead-end tech school just wasting their time). It will be bilingual as it was before, but now I also have the support of my team.

Colaco is now able to increase the class size along with demand.

How, if at all, will future coding camps be different from the ones in the past?

Aside from the much lower price of the workshop, we will also have private mentoring, which was a request from some parents for some of the most brilliant kids who really wanted to continue after the original workshop, but time didn’t allow me to mentor. This will be a one-on-one (or parent + kid) format, pre-scheduled up to several days per week, which will go from the development of any concept, be it an app or a game or even a website (it’s up to the kid), to designing the assets, developing the code, testing and improving, up to launching it on the app stores (both Apple and Android). It can take as long as the student needs, and again the focus is about understanding each step, not just watching it pass by and not acquiring any skills at all. Those private classes will be at our office, where they can also experience a real-life design and coding environment. It’s ideal for an after-school activity. Some slots will be available for the weekend (end of the day, after the regular workshops). Aside from that, this one-on-one format will also be open for adults, anyone who wants to start into this coding world, or build their own app from start to finish while learning everything it takes to get it done.

KEEP READING: Students Attempt to Crack the E-Learning Code

Photos: Fernando Colaco 

With most global industries increasingly leaning on IT and AI technology, understanding computer science, coding, and all the attendant Information Technology related workings has not only become a requirement, but a necessity for those entering the global marketplace. Schools are not being left behind either, especially now in the time of COVID-19, when classes are being offered on e-learning platforms to students of all ages.

Never has it been more important for children to understand not only how to efficiently operate a computer, but also understand how it works, and possibly create their own hacks to further enhance their user experience. With that in mind, Atelier has rolled out a new program aimed at teaching coding to kids in the comfort of their own homes.

Atelier, which has three centers spread across Beijing, suspended all its offline classes in keeping with new COVID-19 related guidelines, but has since found this wonderful alternative for its Beijing-based clientele and beyond. At this time, it is not only important to keep entertained while sequestered at home, but also suitably mentally stimulated.

Coding can loosely be defined as a method of giving a computer instructions on how to perform a specific task using “computer language”. In IT parlance, it is also known as software programming or computer programming.

Said computer language includes visual blocks, Java, Python, and C. Learning. Skills in coding encourage young learners to develop skills in critical thinking, an indispensable skill that will serve them well throughout their lives.

In order to register for these classes, participants will have to scan the QR code below. This will make for a fun alternative to learning for kids, and may just be an easy way for parents who are self-confessed luddites to dip their toes in the ever-mysterious world of coding.

Photos: Courtesy of Atelier Wechat, Pixabay