Summer vacation is finally here! Are you finding yourself scrambling for fun activities to keep your kids occupied? Look no further! Youthspark and Microsoft have partnered up and are now offering free summer camps at 58 Microsoft Retail Stores! If you already have an activity filled summer vacation planned, that’s ok too! You can choose for your children to attend just one session or all sessions. The camp is for children ages 8-13 and broken up into two age groups, Junior Designers (8-10) and Designers (11-13). The camps run from June through August.
Free Summer Camps Include:
- Smart Game Coding: Code. Create. Play. Smart Game Coding is recommended for Junior Designers. Your children will use the kid-friendly visual programming language Kodu to learn about how creativity, problem solving, storytelling, and programming come together to make something of their own. We’ll then introduce them to TouchDevelop, a mobile app creation platform with a touch-based editor that makes coding from a phone or tablet lots of fun.
- Smart Game Designing: Design. Develop. Compete. Smart Game Designing is recommended for Designers. Your kids will go behind the screens with TouchDevelop and ProjectSpark to learn how to build and publish amazing mobile games. As a “game maker” game, ProjectSpark will allow them to make their own virtual world and bring it to life so they can create games, movies, and unique digital experiences. With TouchDevelop, they will remix, share and play amazing new games, all right on their phone.
- Smart Movie Making: Shoot. Edit. Watch. Smart Movie Making is recommended for both Junior Designers and Designers. Your children will be able to unleash their imaginations and start making real movies right from their phone or tablet. Using Windows Phone and Surface Pro, we’ll teach them how produce, direct, design and animate their own flicks, any time they want.
- Smart Photo Taking: Point. Snap. Focus. Smart Photo Taking is recommended for both Junior Designers and Designers. Your kids will learn new tricks for taking great photos from their phone. We’ll teach them how to edit photos, adjust lighting and colors, and even apply filters for more effects. Beyond basic images, we’ll help them build interactive worlds in Photosynth, make themselves into art with Photo Fuse, and create huge panoramas with Gigipixel ArtZoom.
Now that the young kids are taken care of, are you left at home with a high school girl complaining of nothing to do? Microsoft has brought back the DigiGirlz campus, which encourages high school girls to learn about coding and careers in technology. Single day and multi-day programs are available and held in multiple locations worldwide and in retail stores. All programs are offered as part of the Microsoft Youthspark initiative. Registration is now open, so be sure to register today to reserve a spot for your child.
Will your children be going to camp this summer?
