4 tech activities to share with the whole family

1. Outdoors activities 

GPS treasure hunt

Go for a treasure hunt by using the latest technology. Use GPS to find a treasure. Just add a hidden coordinate into your GPS and go on an adventure with your kids and explore the world around you.

digital map nature walk

Or use a digital map with your smartphone and go for a walk into the woods.

Planning a route

Plan a route with the whole family and start a new adventure. Discover new things in your surrounding area. Let your children search for good places to eat and let them find special places with history so they learn something while they are using the Internet.

2. Interactive creativity

Digital Camera
If you have a digital camera then your kids could take some photos. If you’re outside maybe you will see some birds or some  beetle, then your children can practice using the camera and learn a lot about nature as well. Kids who are keen can even take a photography course.

Taking a Video

Are your children confident to stand in front of the camera? Then let them play one of their favourite characters such as Harry Potter, Cinderella, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or Peter Pan. If the film is already taken then you can cut the video and put the parts together with your little co-stars.

Create your own video game

Wouldn’t it be interesting for your kids to see what is behind all of the video games? If your children are interested in creating their own games, let them join a summer tech camp to look for new horizons. 

Digital Diary

Your creative teens will enjoy creating their own website.

Let them design their own pages. Let them write a digital diary of family trips or birthdays and so on.

3. Learn more about electronics

Building a Robot or a Computer may seem difficult, but there are plenty of Tech courses for children where they learn about electronics and especially understand why mathematics and Physics are so important and used everywhere. Open your child’s interest to understand why they’re learning mathematics in school.

4. Enjoying the Summer 

Now lets take a break from technology and computer. Kids also need fresh air and the vitamin D of the sun. What about going out for swimming or riding with horses or just have a picnic with the whole family. You will find more ideas for summer activities here. Have fun!

How To Choose The Best Summer Camps

How do you choose the right summer camp for you child? There are many different types of camps out there and here we have some tips and hints on how to choose the best holiday camp for your kid.

When to book a summer camp

Summer camps are very popular and may of them fill up very quickly so you may want to book in advance to avoid disappointment. Most of these camps are activity based, for example summer tech camps where kids and teens learn coding or sport camps where they play a sport. Thus these camps provide for a great learning experience for children and teenagers. 

Summer Camp Directories

Mumsnet

Urban Explorer

Find a Camp

SummerCamps.com 

Kids Camps

Camps.com

Certifikid

Campeasy

Campeasy

5 Famous Young App Developers

Technology is transforming rapidly in this fast moving world and every day brings a new advancement in the scientific development. Today people of all ages are driven by the technical curiosity and young professionals are on top of the list when it comes to coding and programming. You definitely need to see these contemporary young and energetic mobile app developers that are making miracles happen in the world of programming. 

Alexandra Jordan 

Age: 9

Claim to fame: Super Fun Kid Time (kids playdate app)

During the middle years of her childhood, Alexandra Jordan created a playdate app to everyone’s astonishment. The app is developed for kids between the ages of 6-12 to easily schedule their playdates during vacations. About 5000 members have already signed up for the app and are anxiously waiting for its launch.

Michael Sayman

Age: 17

Claim to fame: 4 Snaps (word-game app)

Michael is an energetic programmer who has learned to code at an early age of 12. He got inspiration to create an app from his sister who clicked pictures and sent to her friends to guess a word. After his app ‘4 Snaps’ got massively popular amongst the audience, he was invited as an intern to work for Facebook and was featured in the Facebook conference f8.   

Brittany Wenger 

Age: 19

Claim to fame: Global Neural Network Cloud Service for Breast Cancer

Teens are certainly transforming the face of medical history. One such creative programmer is Brittany Wenger, who developed an app for the diagnosis of Breast Cancer. The ingenious app is able to diagnose 99% fatal tumours causing breast cancer.  She developed another app for medical practitioners to suggest treatment to at-home patients and compile data. Brittany won Google Science Fair in 2012 for the same project. 

Mohammed Jisrawi

Age: 25

Claim to fame: Foodspotting App (Food Finding app)

Jisrawi has formerly worked for Foodspotting as an iPhone developer. He has contributed in building the Foodspotting camera along with redesigning the company’s app. Currently, Mohammad is performing a tremendous job as a software engineer at Apple Inc.

The new generation is making its mark in the field of technology by creating solutions via data and information. If you are passionate enough to learn programming and proving yourself in the field of IT? Here is a list of online resources from where you can view tutorials to start today with your passion.

• Code.org

The Non-profit foundation website that offers useful programming resources for children based on games, step by step tutorials and inspirational videos by tech gurus such as Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates.  

• Youth digital

The website is based on project-based technology courses for kids to explore their passion for programming and coding.

• Tynker

Tynker is a website that help kids to learn programming by video tutorials related to coding and programming. The attention catching tag line says it all ‘’Play, Experiment, Create’’. 

• Scratch

Designed by former MIT students, this website aims to teach coding to the kids between the ages of 8 to 16. The game like tutorials help you build anything via coding. It is a fun way to learn programming.

• Code Monster

Code Monster offers coding games to kids irrespective of age factor. Two windows on the website show coding and its results in a comparative fashion. 

• Khan Academy

Famous for its online mathematical learning courses and classrooms, Khan Academy also offers basic programming courses including graphics, animations and interactive visualisation programming.  

• Bermotech

Bermotech offers summer tech camps and term time coding courses for kids and teens, where students learn and work in teams. During the app development camps, students design and develop a fully functional app by the end of the week. It is one of the few places that offers native iOS and Android application development training to youngsters.

• Hackety Hack 

This popular software helps kids to learn programming languages through its open source interface called Ruby. After downloading the software to your device, you start coding and become a professional within a matter of days. 

Our Favourite Tech Gadgets for Kids

Today we are seeing more and more tech gadgets enter the market and there is no exception when it comes to tech gadget for kids and teens.

Teaching children to code and build hardware and even more importantly about the interconnection of hardware and software in todays fast paced tech world is crucial and transforms them from passive users to innovators. It also helps them realise their full potential and gives them a great deal of confidence. 

Here are a few of our favourite tech gadgets for children and teenagers who enjoy building hardware as well as computer programming.

What is your favourite tech gadget for teaching computer programming to children? 

Do you have a favourite hardware or robotics gadget for kids and teens that we have missed?

Let us know! 

Star Wars BB8 Droid Sphero

By now you have no doubt heard of the Star Wars BB8 Droid Sphero. This popular toy featured in the latest Star Wars movie has A.I incorporated and acts as a robot that follows commands.

Kano

Kano is a fully functional pocket sized computer, similar to the very popular Raspberry Pi. It is a great device that can be used in tech camps for kids to teach kids how to build their own computer and learn computer programming.

LittleBits

LittleBits is based on a modular system, where circuits are interconnected in the form of modules. It It was voted Gadget of the year 2015 by Time Magazine, it is a great gadget for teaching youngsters about electronics. You can learn more about LittleBits and its online community here.

Ozobot

Ozbot is a cute robots that can be used for teaching computer coding to kids via its programming interface which is user friendly and easy to use at the same time, making it ideal for young tech enthusiasts.

Eedu

Eedu is a DIY programmable drone kit that is easy to build. As drones are becoming more and more popular, you child can get a head start with this kit. It is also compatible with Forge, which has a large open source community base.

Tech Activities For Kids In London

• Holiday Tech Camps for Kids

Tech camps are an excellent way to encourage young minds towards technological advances. These camps offer some of the most interesting and innovative programs for kids in a fun and engaging way. Kids can learn many new programs and software’s that would help them in the long run. Camps in London are supposed to help children think independently so that they can learn to fend for themselves. In this way kids can choose an activity according to their area of interest, be it in the field of robotics, computer games, app design or web programming the opportunities are endless! Mostly at the end of tech summer camps, kids are provided with tools to make their own games or robots so that they get firsthand experience in the field and become an amateur developer.

• Coding Courses for Kids

We live in a digital age where coding is important for adults and kids alike. Therefore, every kid should know how electronic devices that we use on a daily basis work and how to operate and control them. In London, it was announced that from 2014 every child will be taught coding in primary school, because raising a generation of a bunch of children who can code will have huge benefits on the future economy of London. Making kids learn coding courses develop the ability in them to give commands to computer through experimentation and concepts at an early age. Coding clubs should teach kids the art of coding in an environment where they feel empowered, certainly schools are out of question. These summer activities are definitely the best way to let your kids learn the basics of coding in a fun and creative way.

• Science Museum

Summer holidays are not worth it if kids do not visit the science museum in London. This museum is the most visited science and technology museum in the UK. There are interactive exhibits throughout the museum where kids can get valuable information and learn about the latest technologies under one roof. From simulator rides to technological advancements, there is something for every kid. There are over 15000 objects on display ranging from rockets to command capsules. Moreover, the kids can get hand on experience of flying into space and Apollo missions in stunning 3D and 4D simulators or watch the solar system on IMAX 3D cinema.

Ways To Get More Girls Into Coding

According to statistics, only 17% of UK tech jobs are held by women. According to one study it has been found that around 83% of girls come out of school without learning anything about computer coding despite the computer science courses that are available. It seems surprising knowing the fact that the first algorithm to design a machine was given by a woman, Ada Lovelace. 

However, new ideas are being implicated by the government such as, announcements that are trying to incline students especially females more towards computer programming in schools. It is important to create inclination of girls towards coding as they are thought to be more determined and hard working from an early age. According to studies, girls are thought to succeed over boys in school because of their long set academic goals and the efforts that they invest in order to achieve these goals. 

As time is passing, how many of us actually look into paper maps anymore or anything that’s in paper work for that matter? We’re living a fast life and want everything at the palm of our hands. With the IT world growing and advancing at such a rapid pace, we need more people working in this field of study. Knowing how programming could be beneficial towards us and our society but the question is how do we specifically get more girls into coding? We present you a few ways!

Female Role Models

A geeky teenage boy sitting in the basement with his computer and dealing with a lot of numbers! Isn’t this the image that the social media has set for us when it comes to coding and computer programming? In order to interest more girls towards this profession, it’s really important to present to them female role models with a background that generally every student can relate to and connect with. This can be hard, provided that the numbers of women that are already in this field are far less. Nevertheless, the students should be provided with mentors from an early age to help them at every step of the way!

Use of Social Media

A study reports that 92% of teens are reported to go online daily. Social Media should be taken into consideration and graphic designers, app developers, should create interesting and fun coding apps and games for teenage girls especially. This could incline women more towards this field of knowledge and could develop a great amount of interest in coding.

Familiarity

Coding classes should be made mandatory in schools and educational institutions from an early stage to create more awareness and familiarity. These classes should be conducted from the start by high profile programmers so as to attract youth to discover more about coding and the latest technological trends. Parents can also encourage their girls to attend holiday tech camps where they get real life hands-on practical experience with coding and hardware gadgets.

Engaging

In order to motivate more girls towards coding, it is important to spread information about it by opting for a more simplified approach. Start off by looking for more engaging ways to get girls to understand and additional ways that would interest them more towards the idea of coding. It is really important especially for our youth to understand that coding isn’t only for geeks and nerds!

Bermotech Code Camps for Kids

Bermotech have taken a unique approach to delivering coding and app development training courses, designing and creating exclusive summer and half term ‘Coding and App Development Tech Camps' for children and teenagers. The courses are a stimulating, educational spin on the traditional 'summer camp' activities, focussing on the coding skills required to design and create exciting mobile apps.

Bermotech founder Narges Berry commented “Our aim was to teach students iPhone app development in a fun and engaging way, empowering and encouraging the youngsters to create their own fully functional app within their group.”

The company has successfully hosted many iPhone app development groups with groups of 13-15 year old teenagers and 9-12 year old children attending the courses run by Bermotech. 

The budding developers work together to create and produce an app idea. 

Here are some outstanding mobile apps which are now available for download on the App Store:

Group 1 - Children

App created: iBored 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ibored/id912210687?ls=1&mt=8

Group 2 - Teenagers 

App created: Cryptid 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cryptid/id919552754?ls=1&mt=8

Group 3 - Teenagers 

App created: Function Express

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/function-express/id905501199?ls=1&mt=8

Group 3 - Teenagers 

App created: Function Express

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/function-express/id905501199?ls=1&mt=8

Since the completion of the course, several of the students have already began enthusiastic development of their own mobile apps using the skills they've developed on Bermotech's 'App Development Code Camp’. 

Bermotech are also keen to promote the inclusion of more female students in the STEM (science, technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects. Many of the conventional coding and developing industry niches have a disproportionate number of male to female professionals, so by encouraging more girls to get involved at an earlier age, Bermotech hopes to be able to positively improve the opportunities available to women in STEM fields. 

Contact: Narges Berry

Email: narges@bermotech.com

Telephone: 020 7586 1602

Web: http://www.bermotech.com