Building from their previous coding work with Daisy the Dinosaur and The Foos, this afternoon the campers were introduced to Scratch Jr, a free app developed for young children by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab. The tool is designed to engage young children in using an introductory programming language to create animations, interactive stories and games. Children combine graphical programming blocks to animate characters to move, jump, dance, and sing. Children are also able to customize the characters in the paint editor, add their own voices and sounds, and insert photos of themselves. In addition to introductory programming and coding skills, Scratch Jr. also supports the development of skills related to sequencing and numeracy while also fostering children's’ creativity and critical thinking. The app is available at no cost for both iOS and Android tablets.
This afternoon the campers also created their own stop motion videos using the LEGO Movie Maker using the iOS app. The campers each created scenes and captured photos using the special props and toys they brought from home and then inserted the photos into the LEGO Movie Maker app which allowed them to add text, sound effects and music to create their own stop motion movie. The campers loved sharing their movies on the classroom’s wall-sized presentation screen.
Also this afternoon the campers created their own virtual pottery pieces using Let’s Create! Pottery HD Lite. The app presents a piece of clay spinning on a potter’s wheel from which pieces can be created by moving your finger on the clay to change the height, width, shape, etc.
