At-Home Coding Camp, No Computer Required

We hear so much about how important it is for kids to know how to code, or at least to understand the way computer code works. Even for kids who won’t go into computer programming as a career, the world is increasingly reliant on technology, and being able to understand what makes it all work will always be helpful.

But if you’re not a coder yourself it can be difficult to know where to being or how to teach kids about something you might not completely understand yourself.

iGameMom is coming to the rescue with her at-home coding camp. The five-day series of activities is suited to kids ages 5 to 10 and involves printable games and activities — no computer required (future camps will use computers to teach hands-on coding principles.)

The first day, for instances, uses a printable game where kids have to work out the code to get a hot dog to a bun. The game helps to illustrate the skills someone needs to be a good programmer, including the ability to work backward from the goal and see the steps that need to happen in between and being willing to try again when something doesn’t work the first time.

This looks like a lot of fun and an easy way to introduce some coding concepts without going over your head. You just might learn something, too.

Looking for more ways to teach binary coding? Check out these binary Code resources.

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Learn Coding without Computers

Shark Week generally happens in July, but any time is a good time to learn more about sharks.

First, start with some fun whale facts like these from Kids Craft Room. Here I learned about the dwarf lantern shark, which is the smallest shark and only grows to about 6-8 inches (about 15-20 cm) long. It also emits light. How cool is that?

Natural Beach Living has some great printable shark information guides, where kids can learn about different kinds of sharks, match the facts to the pictures, or print out doubles and do a shark memory game.

Living Life an Learning has some great shark activity pages including the parts of a shark, types of sharks, a crossword puzzle and more. Also check out their parts of a shark and word scramble download, and a life cycle worksheet.

Learn about how sharks float with this great activity from JDaniel4’s Mom.

Need more facts about sharks? This fact pact from The WOLFe PACK on Teacher Pay Teachers includes fact sheets, a printable flip book, informational text, vocabulary, comprehension questions and more.

Living Montessori Now has a great collection of shark themed activities with a Montessori inspired twist. You’ll find a shark roll and cover, shark phonics and lots more shark activities Deb has collected from all over the Internet.

Remember the “Sharknado” movie? A Few Shortcuts turned the combination of sharks and tornadoes into a fun science activity. You’ll need a bottle connector for this project but otherwise should have everything you need on hand. Use their template to make your sharks out of aluminum foil. So fun!

You can also do some shark themed coloring with these coloring pages from Encouraging Moms at Home. Or make a cool 3D shark with this template from korkotak. And there are tons of different shark crafts collected in this post from Kids Activities Blog.

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