Apple’s free Summer Camp teaches kids to code

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Summer camp is coming to an Apple Store near you.
Summer camp is coming to an Apple Store near you.
Photo: Apple

Parents looking for a cool summer activity for kids will soon be able to drop their youngsters off at the Genius Bar for a programming upgrade.

Apple opened registration for its annual summer Camps this morning which give children 8 to 12 the opportunity to come into the Apple Store to learn coding, robotics, moviemaking and storytelling using iPads and Macs. Best of all, the three day camp is totally free.

The summer camp sessions are scheduled between 10:30 a.m. – 3:30PM local time from July 11 until August 12. You don’t even have to live in the US to get in on the action, with stores in countries like the UK, Canada, China, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, and more participating.

Apple’s Summer Camp offers three different sessions: Coding Games and Programming Robots, Interactive Storytelling with iBooks and Stories in Motion with iMovie.

Spots are pretty limited so you should get a jump on the free three-day program before your local store is booked.

Here’s what the kids will be doing:

Coding Games:

Kids will learn visual block-based coding for games, applying logic skills such as pattern recognition and problem solving. Then they’ll use what they’ve learned to program their own robots to perform tasks, challenges, and much more.

Create epic movies:

Campers will learn everything they need to create their own movies. They’ll storyboard ideas, shoot video, and delve into other aspects of the filmmaking process. Then they’ll edit their new epics in iMovie on a Mac

Become an iBook author:

Campers will create their own interactive books and learn about the elements of writing a story, from idea to storyboarding. They’ll draw illustrations using an iPad, then add sound effects and Multi-Touch features using iBooks Author on a Mac.

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