The question of why children should learn to code has recently spread like wildfire among parenting groups and educational institutions.
In our increasingly digital world, parents want their children to be computer-literate. Learning to code not only prepares students for future career opportunities.
In an increasingly digital world, this demonstrates how after-school coding clubs can help young people develop skills and expand their interest in coding.
In the last few decades, after-school clubs have become an essential part of learning. Schools have been expected to provide extended provisions by successive governments. Their job is to improve learning in the classroom and help students build and improve other personal and study skills.
What is the benefit of the Coding Club?
The Coding Club helps students develop programming skills and inspires them to pursue future programming and other digital careers.
It teaches not only how the programming language works, but also how to use it for a specific purpose based on the field the student wishes to pursue.
The students will learn from non-computer-based programming to basic programming with block-based programming such as Scratch and more complex programming such as C# and C++.
What are the Coding Club activities?
There are a lot of coding club activities you can find, but here are the top 9 coding club activities and projects you can use for the coding club.
- Learn Binary with Binary Bracelet
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Binary is extremely important to the computer world as the majority of computers today store all sorts of information in binary form. This lesson helps to demonstrate how it is possible to take something that we know and translate it into a series of one-offs. This activity will allow you to embed your name or nickname in this secret code on a bracelet. This activity is fun to introduce the world of coding to a student who is new to the coding world. It allows them to understand the work of programming.
- Learn Instruction with Chalk Maze
Instruction is an important part of programming that helps you understand the world of programming. As in programming, the key to how the programme will run is the use of well-constructed logic instructions. The Chalk Maze is a non-computer coding activity that will help you introduce the world of instructions in the coding club. It allows students to exercise their logic and develop simple instructions to follow to reach the program’s end goal.
In Chalk Maze, the student won’t only need to think sequentially but also learn how to deliver the instruction in a simple way for the other student in the team to understand. This team-based game shows the real-world concept of programming in a fun way that is easier to understand for the students, especially for those new to programming.
- Making Flappy Bird with Scratch
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Scratch is a block-based programming language that is suitable for beginners in coding. It gives students a chance to learn how coding works and develop their creativity while working on a project. Making a Flappy Bird in Scratch will be a coding club activity, as Flappy Bird is a well-known and fun game. Flappy Bird also has simple logic but includes many conditions that are possibly used in any kind of game. This exposure to multiple conditions in one project helps students stimulate their logical thinking, problem-solving, and conceptual thinking.
- Build a Chat App with Thunkable
Building an application is an excellent approach to introduce the world of UI/UX and the use of databases in coding.
The Chat App will be a good start for students in making an app as they will have experience with how it works in real life and how it should be working.
Building a chat app will stimulate the student’s understanding of the world of databases, which is an essential part of the coding world. It gives them a chance to use API keys and implement a database in a real-world programme.
- Design Profile Page with Canva
The world of coding is not limited only to typing hundreds of lines of code. The world of coding also includes a design known as User Interface or UI.
Learning how to make a profile page is a great way to get started with design projects. It lets the student try out different types of design templates that are made for a certain purpose. Thus, using Canva, they can do it in a team with broader ideas for the page.
- Build An ECommerce Website with Replit
HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are suitable text-based languages for beginners. It has a simple syntax and can be found in many programmes. This condition will boost the spirit of the student to learn as they can see the programme in the real world and it can be accessed publicly. It helps the student to understand the world of web development and how the internet system works in web-based programmes.
- Explore Data Analysis with SQL
The greatest way to learn data analysis is through SQL practice. By going through this interactive online course, you can get better at SQL without having to download and install any software. You can first practice SQL’s fundamentals, such as SELECT statements and logical operators. The lesson then guides you through more complex SQL syntax, including relational principles and aggregate functions (count, sum, etc.) (joins, unions, etc.).
- Understanding CS Concepts with Python
Prepare for a high-demand job in sectors like software engineering or data science by learning Python coding. Python is a computer language that is becoming more and more popular because of how easy it is to learn and use. You will also become familiar with some of the most fundamental ideas in computer science, including variables, data types, if/else conditionals, loops, and more.
- Build Competitiveness with Hackathon
By taking part in a hacking marathon, groups from different fields can show off their skills and quickly create new projects. In 30 hours (or more), participants can self-challenge, show leadership, meet people, and even discover new skills!
It’s an excellent opportunity to brush up on your technical knowledge or get to the basics if you’ve never done anything technical before. You’ll also get support to help you pick up these skills even faster.
Conclusion
Coding clubs after school help kids learn how to code and encourage them to work in tech in the future. Coding club activities include learning how the programming language works, as well as how to use it for a specific purpose based on the field the student wishes to pursue. There are a lot of coding club activities you can find, but here are some of the top ones.
The top 9 coding club activities and projects you can use for the coding club are:
- Learn binary with the binary bracelet
- Learn instruction with a chalk maze
- Making flappy birds with Scratch
- Build a chat app with Thunkable
- Design profile page with Canva
- Build an ECommerce website with Reply
- Explore data analysis with SQL
- Understanding CS concepts with Python
- Build competitiveness with Hackathon
To learn more about coding activities and their benefits, check out the fun and educational blogs on the BrightCHAMPS blog page.
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