Digital Kids World

video game design camps

Design Thinking
Design thinking is definitely at center stage of this camp. Good designers come up with interesting ideas, test them out, debug what doesn’t work, and either keep going or make some adjustments. Those skills are crucial when designing a video game.

Blank Slate
Just like an artist, musician, or writer, people who design and build video games start from scratch. What makes video games so interesting is that they often rely on art, music, and interesting dialogue to make the games fun to play.

Critical Thinking
Making characters move and interact with other characters involves a great deal of critical thinking. What’s really cool to witness is kids struggling to make their games work, then after really analyzing how things interact with each other, they just speed through their second level because of what they’ve learned.

Comics and...
We also give time for kids to explore making their own comic books and animations during the video game design camp. You never know what might spark the kids’ imagination, so we provide these other creative activities.

“The human imagination is an amazing thing. As children, we spend much of our time in imaginary worlds, substituting toys and make-believe for the real surroundings... As we play, we learn. And as we grow, our play gets more complicated. We add rules and goals. The result is something we call games.”
Will Wright, a remarkable video game designer

movie making camps

Storytelling
Movie making is one of the most powerful way to tell a story. It combines visual elements with sound elements to create an engaging story. The director is really giving the audience a glimpse into his or her imagination.

Location Scout
There are a ton of great spots to film at The Westin, so on the first day of camp we spend time finding those spots and practicing capturing good footage.

Story Boards
It always helps to have a visual plan for your movie. Creating a story board goes a long way in creating the plan. It’s also a great way to come up with new ideas and possibilities.

"Quiet on the Set!"
Once our story boards are laid out, we begin filming the scenes of everyone’s movie. Just like in Hollywood, sometimes the scene needs several takes, and sometimes we get it right on the very first take.

Post-Production
After the footage is captured, we move on to the post-production phase. It’s here where the movie is truly made. Clips are edited, special effects may be created, animations added, sound effects timed, and music added.

Perhaps Steven Speilberg described the process of making movies best with this quote:
"I dream for a living."

where kids become the producers...

of creative digital media projects!

One of the greatest things about kids is their natural desire to create stuff. As we grow older, sometimes that desire can get lost a little bit. But think back to when you were a kid and went to elementary school...

What do you remember most about your school days? Was it the tests, worksheets, desks, and lectures? Or, was it a project that you found yourself totally immersed in that you took special care to really make it your own?

Hopefully it’s the latter. Our summer camps are project-based camps that provide kids with an opportunity to create a cool project that uses technology in creative ways. It makes for a fun, dynamic environment where everyone is challenged and engaged.

What does it take to be a producer?

For one, it takes someone who is curious. The projects our kids create require thoughtfulness, imagination, and problem-solving. It’s very difficult to complete a project without a little bit of curiosity. We encourage kids to test new ideas, explore a topic, and ask questions.

A good producer will always keep the end-goal in mind as they work through a project.

Being involved in all aspects of a project is something producers relish. They want to be a part of pre-production, production, and post-production. That’s they only way to really see your vision come to life.

Robert Fulghum got it right in his poem, “All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten,” when he wrote, “Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.”

golf cart rims

Apparently, there is a business for everything. Over the weekend, we visited Grandma and Grandpa and had a great time eating BBQ and watching jugglers at the Festival at Sun City Festival. On the way to find the "free" desert, which was extremely well hidden in the model homes, I noticed a golf cart with customized rims. It looked so different from other golf carts I had to do a double take.

Customized rims for golf carts? Who knew. I totally need the spinning kind when I retire.

Check out the selection here. A new way to intimidate your golfing partner.

the pause effect

Our youngest, Tait, can often be heard telling his brother to pause one thing or another. It could be his favorite television show (changes on an hourly basis sometimes) or a Nintendo DS game or a podcast about space. He gets extremely frustrated if he's watching a television that can't be paused. What kind of effect does this have on his development? I know he's not the only one out there that expects that anything with a screen can be paused.

What are his expectations?

TV can be paused and rewound (sometimes up to 7 times to see a certain animal on Bindi's show).

Movies can be watched on his iPod Nano or his dad's computer. Pause? Check. Rewind? Check.

Video games? Pausing, saving, and sometimes even a replay or two.

This sort of time-shifting of entertainment is an amazing thing for us "older folk," but it's an expectation for our current generation. What sorts of consumer behavior will this generation have once they get some spending money? It's a very powerful thing to be able to temporarily "pause" life. The entire process makes you feel completely in control.

Now for a bigger question, how can "the pause effect" help Tait's learning?

Pausing is not something the typical school is really set up to do...

future of toys

OK, the Holidays are over and the resolutions are about to begin. Before the endorphins from all of the new exercise kicks in, I thought I would take a tiny moment to reflect on the season.

The one thing that really struck me occurred on Christmas morning. The boys were opening their gifts from Santa and playing with their new Nintendo DS games (we love Drawn to Life - kids have to draw everything they use in the game...), training a talking parrot, and downloading songs to their iPod Nanos. My dad stopped by to pick up my brother Steve, when the thought really hit home.

I couldn't have imagined the toys/gifts that Santa brought my kids when I was a younger lad. I really would have loved something that had my favorite TV shows and songs that I could take anywhere. I'm not sure I would have been into a talking parrot, but it's still pretty cool.

Imagine what Santa will bring my grandkids in 20 years...

holographic gaming systems?
personal avatars?
robotic pitching coaches?
mobile personal servants?

Maybe everyone will get a personal hover/space craft like in the Jetsons...

holiday ideas for kids

I posted a few ideas for the holidays on our squidoo lens. Check it out and let us know how any of the gift ideas worked out!

xo laptop

The promise of the $100 laptop didn't quite make it (yet), but the new xo laptop looks to be one cool learning tool. This Linux based computer isn't the most powerful - isn't the fastest - but it has so many learning-based features, that it will surely delight the kids who get their hands on them.

Each laptop comes with easy to access software that allows kids to create. From drawing to music creation to programming, this set of software tools will surely engage kids. The "mesh" network allows kids to communicate with each other without the help of an established network. That means kids can collaborate on projects with each other, send notes to each other, and learn with each other.

What a great concept! It's so great, that it would be incredible if every single elementary school in the U.S. had access to 10-20 of these laptops. Can you imagine what kind of projects the kids could work on with these computers? No, they don't run Windows or Mac OSX, but the simple tools bundled with these laptops could create incredible collaborative learning environments.

Right now, the one laptop per child organization has a terrific offer (Give One. Get One.), where for $399 you can get one of these laptops and one will be donated to developing nation (plus you get a $200 tax credit!). Imagine if every school in the U.S. bought 10-20 laptops! Not only would they be investing in creating 21st century learning communities here in the U.S., they would also be investing in other developing nations.

Oh, and I forgot to mention these computers are spill-proof and dust-proof and drop-proof?

summer camp options for 2008

We would love to hear from you about possibilities for our Summer Camp program for 2008.

> what types of camps would you like to be offered?
> do you prefer half day camps or full day camps?
> geographically, where would you like us to hold our camps?
> what age groups are you looking for?

Post a comment or send us an email with your ideas.

Thanks so much!

we are expanding...

...and not just because of the extra Halloween candy our kids brought home last week.

We are looking for energetic, enthusiastic, and motivated people to help expand our after-school programs. The ideal candidate will have an interest in technology, learning, and how the two can be linked to give kids incredible learning experiences. Our after-school programs are held at schools around the Valley. Each program (video game design, stop motion movies, music videos, creating commercials, action news team, podcast mysteries, and gameshow) consists of six one-hour sessions held right after school.

This is definitely a part-time opportunity and may be perfect for someone in college studying to become a teacher, a former teacher, or even a budding graphic artist or filmmaker.

If you are interested, your first step is to read the following "white paper" written by Marc Prensky about digital immigrants and digital natives. After reading the paper, post a comment or send an email and we'll move on to the next step.