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Last Wednesday, Expedia organized the first CoderDojo in our London office.

CoderDojo is a volunteer-led community group for young people aged 7 to 17 to come together and learn to create cool projects with technology.

It’s free to come along and all experience levels are welcome; whether you’re new to coding or have a project idea that you want to make reality!

For this first session, we had about 10 participants aged between 7 and 13 years old.

As an ice breaker, we did the “two truths and a lie” game mentioning 3 things we had done during that day. I was quite glad that most kids fell into my trap when I said that I played PlayStation at work, and they all thought it was the lie… 🙂

We organized different activities depending on what the kids were interested in:

• Scratch, using drag & drop blocks instead of traditional code, to make a hippo fly or build more complex projects
• Learn basic algorithm skills based on Star Wars or Flappy Bird games
• Use of the BBC Micro:Bit to create games or simulate robot emotions

CoderDojo @ Expedia London

CoderDojo @ Expedia London

At the end of the activity, the kids were invited to show what they achieved over the last hour. It was nice to see the majority of them really happy & enthusiastic to tell us about what they built.
Sharing knowledge and collaboration are very important soft skills.

In summary, it was fun for the kids but also the mentors!

CoderDojo Mentors: Veli, Alice, Adam, Ana, Fabian, Nicola

After receiving spontaneously good feedback from some participants at the end, we can say this first session was a success. We obviously have room for improvement and already got some new ideas for the next session.

We are planning to have a monthly Dojo, the 3rd Wednesday of each month, which means the next one will be on August, 21st.

Whether you are a kid, a parent or a mentor, we hope to see you soon at the second one! More info and registration at London Angel Expedia CoderDojo.

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Devoxx4Kids is a spin-off of the Devoxx developer conference, with some differences: the event lasts one day, does not include any conferences, but focuses on workshops and, of course, is designed for kids (ages 10-14).

Last year, I volunteered for Devoxx4Kids London and it was lots of fun. I like IT and I like kids, so it’s a good motivation! Playing with Scratch, making Nao the robot dance & talk, programming some Lego Mindstorms for battles, etc. You almost end up being a kid yourself!

It’s a very good initiative to introduce basic engineering and programming skills to the youngest generation so they discover what IT is in a good and practical way. This experience can also teach them some soft skills like patience, sharing and listening.

Devoxx4Kids 2018 in London - Collage

Devoxx4Kids is also a good opportunity to teach kids that tech is not something only for boys, and girls can take their part too. As they are young, they are much less concerned with stereotypes. As a reader of this blog and probably an adult, you won’t be surprised that someone working in IT can be associated to a bearded nerdy guy typing lines of code in the dark with his coffee & a sexy wallpaper…

Joke apart, Devoxx4kids will take place next Saturday (on May 11th) in London. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend and help this year, I will have to give the Sphero BOLT and the Harry Potter coding wand a miss. But don’t hesitate, if you are interested and free that day, I would say it’s never too late to volunteer. You can find all the details on the event page or reach them via Facebook or Twitter.

If you are not living in London or even in UK, there are plenty of Devoxx4Kids around the world, get in touch with the one near your home, I’m sure they will be happy to have some extra help!

Devoxx4Kids 2018 in London - Group photo