As teachers you are constantly thinking of engaging activities for the classroom. You always want your children to have an enjoyable time learning in a manner that piques their interests.
Technology is the way of the future, but fitting it into the schedule isn’t always easy. Today, children begin playing with tablets as young as age one. So it’s no wonder you’d want to combine that natural millenium love for technology with classroom learning.
You don’t have to struggle to think of great ideas. Here are a few cool tech projects you can teach your students that are highly engaging.
Create Your Own Website
Creating a website is an amazing way for students to learn about web development. Using a platform like WordPress, they’ll be able to let their full creativity shine by altering themes to choose their own colors, fonts, images, navigation menus, and much more. Because today’s children are highly mobile, they’ll also want to learn about accelerated mobile pages, which allows their websites to be easily viewable across devices, and therefore makes it much simpler to share their projects with family and friends.
This isn’t just good for creativity: it’s also a great way to set your students up for the future. Web design and development careers are experiencing explosive growth, and students who begin learning early are more equipped to continue building upon those skills through college and beyond. Take a look at this “Web Design Guide For Kids” to give yourself a starting point for your lesson.
Build a Computer
This requires a little investing, but if your budget can afford it, a computer kit is a great way for students to learn the intricacies of computers beyond just the screen. Kano and Piper are just two brands of computer kits for children. To make these kits more affordable, you can also create group projects or have an interest group before or after school, bringing together anywhere from 4-6 kids together per kit.
The Kano, for example, was released on Kickstarter to teach kids about computer science and it saw massive success. The kits allow children to put together bits and pieces, and then actually use the computer themselves. On their very own computer that they built, they’ll be able to use a word processor, and play games like Pong and Minecraft.
Create Circuit Cards
Circuit cards are unique ways to teach children about electric circuits in a fun, creative way. It perfectly combines science, technology, and design into one central project, and can fit well into any STEAM curriculum at your school. In the end, your students will have a super cool card that lights up.
A standard circuit card requires just a few supplies: cardstock paper, copper tape, scissors, 5mm LED lights in an assortment of colors, and an LV lithium button battery. There are dozens of circuit card guides online, and they fit all types of occasions. Here are a few for inspiration:
- Light Up Circuit Valentines
- Circuit Flowers
- Electric Circuit Kids Valentine
- Light Up May the Fourth Be With You Cards
- Light Up & Pop Up Circuit Flower Card
- How to Make a Lighting Bug Circuit Paper Card
Put Together a Digital Book
This project is a combination of technology and creative writing, and can be very fun for everyone involved. Have your kids create a digital book, either in groups or on their own. The digital book can (and should be) interactive, much like a traditional “choose your own adventure” book.
You can do this by using a platform like Inkle, which is a digital storytelling tool for children. With Inkle, they can bring stories to life in the classroom, and share them with other students. Pair this project with some grammar and English lessons, and you’ll be good to go! Of course there are many platforms and applications you can use to create original digital books.
Do Some Coding Activities
Coding goes hand in hand with building a computer. Why is coding so great for teaching children? Because it forces children to address complex issues head on. They’ll develop useful problem-solving skills that would be hard to learn in another environment. And when it comes to kids coding programs, they’ll also have fun: after all, it’s designed to be attractive to children. Here are some useful coding apps and programs for children.
Engaging students in technology is a must and with all the options, you’re certain to find a tech venue that works for you!
