This is a guest post from Layla and the Bots author Vicky Fang.
Happy Computer Science Education Week!
If you’re new to CSEd week, it’s an “annual call to action to inspire K-12 students to learn computer science, advocate for equity in computer science education, and celebrate the contributions of students, teachers, and partners to the field.”
As a former designer of kids’ coding experiences at Google and the author of the Layla and the Bots books, I just had to put together something fun this week!
So what better accompaniment to my rockstar/inventor and her band of bots?
Code your own musical instrument!
This is a fun and free coding activity that invites kids to record their own sounds and turn them into an interactive instrument. It’s quick and easy to get started with the code in the programming site Scratch, which will give kids a fun entry point into block-based coding. Maybe they’ll even start poking around to figure out what else they can do!
Why do I care so much about coding? Because the concepts and process of coding are important for all kids to understand, whether they intend to be engineers or not! Computer literacy and computational thinking are fantastic skills for all kids to become better problem solvers and innovators. Plus, I’m passionate about inspiring kids to think of technology as a tool and a creative medium that allows them to make awesome stuff! I hope this activity sparks some funny and fun ideas with some kids in your life, and invites them to tinker and play in code.
Happy coding!
Thanks for reading! If you’d like to see more activities to accompany the Layla and the Bots books, visit Vicky’s website at www.vickyfang.com/activities.
Vicky Fang is a product designer who spent 5 years designing kids’ technology experiences for both Google and Intel, often to inspire and empower kids in coding and technology. She started writing to support the growing need for early coding education, particularly for girls and kids of color. Her goal is for her books to inspire computer literacy for a wide range of kids—while letting their imaginations run wild with the possibilities of technology! She is the author of the Layla and the Bots early chapter book series, as well as the Invent-A-Pet picture book, the I Can Code board book series, and the forthcoming Friendbots early graphic novel series. Find out more about Vicky by following her on Twitter at @fangmous or on her website at www.vickyfang.com.
