A summer coding camp for kids

An award-winning summer camp program that teaches kids coding and offers other technology-related activities is making Peachtree Corners its seventh location. Kids 4 Coding, which has camps in Roswell, Lawrenceville, Alpharetta and at two sites in Massachusetts, will hold classes for kids ages 7 to 16 at Prototype Prime, the tech start-up incubator at 147 Technology Parkway.

Company co-founders AnnMarie Laramee and Denise Detamore started the camp six years ago to help kids gain “tech readiness” in whatever fields they eventually choose to enter. “STEM education can lead to some of the best jobs in the world and right now we have a shortage of skilled workers. There are some international schools that incorporate coding into the daily curriculum starting in kindergarten!” Laramee said.

In addition to coding, summer campers are taught other skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving and perseverance, “which helps in any area of study,” she said.

Kids 4 Coding’s week-long classes will be offered from June 10 to July 26 and will be taught by computer science and engineering majors “recruited from top colleges,” the program’s website says. With one exception, classes start at $339 for the half-day program and $579 for the full-day program, with a $30 discount for early registration.

Courses for younger kids come with a dizzying array of titles such as Star Wars Droids + AR Design, Minecraft + Circuitry + Drones, Team Robotics & Programming, and Creative Code: Art, Music & Game Design. Kids ages 10-12 can take courses such as Mobile Apps + Augmented Reality and can learn to build laptops they can take home at the end of the week.

Once their Pi-Top laptops (see pi-top.com) are built, the students will use them to learn the fundamentals of coding in the Python programming language. This course costs $639 half-day and $879 full-day.

Older kids at camp will learn to code with Python, build mobile apps using JavaScript code and use Game Maker to program, design and animate games for all computer platforms and mobile devices.

While their education is serious business, Kids 4 Coding is also about having kids having fun. “We believe fun enhances learning and inspiration,” Laramee said. “Meshing screen-time with hands-on engineering improves student engagement.” ■