Here is exactly how to use the Scratch programming language to create the Christmas card – in 10 easy steps!

Step 1: Go to the Scratch website

Go to the Scratch website and create an account.

Step 2: Start your interactive Christmas Card

Click on ‘create’ in the menu bar at the top of the screen (close the tutorial that shows up by clicking X)

Step 3: Select a backdrop

At the top (where the red arrow is) type in a name for your project. Then go to where the purple arrow is pointing and click to select a backdrop. I chose “winter”.
(Note: next to the option to select from their library are options to draw your own background, upload from a file, or take a photo with the computer’s camera – so if your children are more ambitious they can try one of these)

Step 4: Remove the default sprite

Click on the trash can next to the cat to delete the cat (the default sprite) – unless you want him on the card.

Step 5: Add your first sprite

Click on ‘Choose a sprite’ (the cat face) and select one from the library (once again you could draw your own, upload a picture from a file or use the computer’s camera to take a photo). I chose a penguin.

This penguin sprite comes with many scripts –  these tell the sprite what you want it to do. You can currently see all the blue “Move” scripts, but if you click on one of the other colors you can see those categories of scripts.

Step 6: Make a dancing penguin

The different scripts (pieces of code) in Scratch will click together like a jigsaw puzzle. Make sure they do as if they aren’t connected, the code will be ‘broken’ and not work. Copy the script I have here by clicking on Events, Control, Looks, and Motion to find the blocks you need. Follow the colors to find them

If you select the wrong script by mistake – no problem – just drag it back to where you got it and it will disappear!

This script tells the penguin sprite to repeat 5 times the following sequence:

• Wait 1 second

• Move 10 steps

• Switch to the next costume

In Scratch, a costume is a variation on the appearance of a sprite and you use it when you want to animate sprites. Not all sprites have costumes but if they do you will find them when you click on the Costumes tab. Here you can see our penguin sprite has 3 costumes.

The effect of letting him move and then change costume makes it a more fun animation. Click on the penguin now – the one in the right panel – and you will see him dance. If he does nothing, check you have the code EXACTLY like mine and that all the pieces are properly joined together.

Step 7: Add a ringing bell

Now it is time to add another sprite. Follow the same steps as when you added the first one. I chose a bell this time. Drag it to where you want it to be on the screen. Here is the code to make the bell ‘ring’ when clicked. You can click on the “down arrow” to select ‘xylo1’ or leave it as ‘bell toll’.

Step 8: Add a blinking star

Add another sprite – you know how to do that by now. I used a star. These scripts will make it blink. Be sure you have the star sprite clicked before you add the scripts (see the red arrow). There will be a purple box around the sprite the scripts apply to.

These script wait briefly (.5 seconds), hide the star, wait briefly (.5 seconds), and then reshow it, and this repeats 5 times. Please note you need to change the value of the numbers. Just overtype with the values you want.

Step 9: Add a talking gift

Add your final sprite – I chose a gift. Then make it “talk” ie when it is clicked, add words to say “Happy Christmas” or whatever you want to say.

Step 10: Share with family and friends

Now it is time to save and share. Click on Files and then ‘Save’ (the red arrow) and then click on Share (red arrow). If you don’t share a project no one can see it!

Add some instructions on the project page like I did (red arrow) and finally grab the url (purple arrow) and email that to whoever you want to send it to!

Now just sit back and wait for the recipients to be impressed. Or – challenge yourself and try to create some variations to make your interactive Christmas card even better! Try to make a sprite change color or size perhaps.

And if your children love coding in Scratch, consider gifting them an online Scratch class for Christmas!

Bio:

Meryl van der Merwe started programming as a teen and worked as a computer programmer before becoming a homeschool mom. She has been teaching live and online programming classes – and other subjects too – for over 10 years. You can find her online classes at FundaFunda Academy. Follow her on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.

The post How to Teach Kids to Program an Interactive Christmas Card appeared first on FundaFunda Academy.

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There are many benefits to incorporating robotics in your homeschool

• A fun introduction to STEM
• It’s hands-on learning
• It’s creative and encourages innovation
• Students learn problem-solving
• Students learn to persevere when things don’t work
• It equips students with tech skills they can use in future careers

But you may not know where to start. So here are some ideas based on my own experience (my one son built robots in middle and high school), and the experience of other homeschoolers I know.

Online Robotics Class

Robotics Workshops for Kids offers a free online workshop so that you can see what their classes will be like. Younger students can be accompanied by parents as they may need some help. If you love the free workshop then sign up for the class that teaches you to build Robby the Drummer robot. You will be mailed all the parts and then your child can follow along during the class to build and program it

Listen to my podcast interview with Vinod Agrawal, the owner of Robotics Workshops for Kids to learn more

Robot Kits

Some kits just have students building the robot. Some will have instructions to copy exactly and these are good for beginners as they can learn slowly.

Then it is good to progress to kits that also allow creativity as by changing things up and making their own version, students will be taking this to the next level. Many of these include the ability to program the robot.

My son had the Lego Mindstorms set. This now uses Scratch as the default programming language. Lego no longer makes Mindstorms, but the replacement is called Boost, and you can find it here.

Make a Robot from Scratch

A great way to learn more about electronics is to make a robot from scratch. Here is a simple one even elementary-age children should manage

Robotics Competitions

The most popular Robotics Competitions are hosted by FIRST. My son was on a First Lego League team in 8th and 9th grade and a few years later, I ended up coaching a middle school team for 3 years. The Lego Mindstorms robot is used for this competition. Teams consist of up to 10 students and if you ask around you are sure to find a few in your area.

Older students can participate in FIRST Robotics and FIRST Tech Challenge – also team events. Listen to this podcast episode where I talk to a student who has been competing in FIRST.

You may also find that your local community college or university hosts robotic competitions, and if you can find a Science Olympiad team to join, robotics is often one of the events.

As you can see, there are many options for adding robotics to your homeschool. Whether you include it as part of your curriculum, or add it as an “after-school” activity, it is easy to do even if you know nothing about robotics or coding.

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How did the podcast come about?

A few years ago, my oldest daughter, Rachel, started talking about podcasts and how great they are. (A podcast is basically a radio show – on demand)

It took many months before I first tried one out as I am a visual, not an auditory learner, and I didn’t think I would enjoy them.

But I did! I discovered I LOVED podcasts and they have become my primary source of education because it is so easy to listen to them while I am driving, ironing, cooking and at the gym.

If I read a blog post or a book, there is not a lot I can do at the same time – but listening to podcasts is different. It makes a boring task fun – and I can be twice as productive.

Having fallen in love with listening to podcasts, I started considering hosting one related to homeschooling. Two things held me back: I was unsure of what topic to focus on and I was unsure exactly how to go about it.

This past summer, the online Homeschool Moms Conference, the mastermind of Heather Bowen, provided the answers to both those concerns.

I gave 3 talks at the conference – and by far the most popular one – which was also one a number of the attendees said was a conference favorite – was on Homeschooling and Technology. And that was my “aha” moment as to the topic of my podcast.

In addition, as a conference speaker, I had access to all the talks in both the homeschooling and blogging tracks and one of the talks I listened to was on “Tips for Podcasters” by Felice Gerwitz, the owner of the Ultimate Homeschool Radio Network. I loved her talk and contacted her about potentially joining her network – and well, it all happened!!

What’s the podcast about?

Yesterday, the very first episode of Homeschooling with Technology went live. The first show is an intro to the podcast and to me and my background in technology.

The next few episodes will deal with Google Drive and its apps, techie ways your children can do projects, how to teach your kids to code and much more.

New episodes will come out every Wednesday and each will be under 15 minutes in length. There will be show notes so that you don’t have to worry you won’t remember everything I mention.

Where can you find the podcast?

If you already listen to podcasts – you know what to do to find mine. Just search “Homeschooling with Technology”. Please subscribe and give me a rating and review once you listen. This is crucial to the success of any podcast!!

If you have never listened to a podcast before … they are AWESOME. Start with mine – and then add more! (Look at the other shows from the Ultimate Homeschool Radio Network) and then find podcasts on other topics you are interested in.

You can listen to my podcast on a computer right from my show page – but it is more convenient to use a podcast app on a phone (and yes, your phone will have one on it already!) Here is an excellent article explaining how it all works. This article also talks about a few different podcasting apps in case you don’t want to use the one on your phone.

If you prefer watching a video – here is one for iPhones

and one for Android phones

If you have any topics you would like me to cover – leave a comment here.

Please share this with your homeschool friends!! And don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review

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In my classes, I am constantly encountering problems where students are struggling to get their homework submitted on the due date because they are competing for computer time with their parents and siblings.

Many assignments require online research, and often assignments need to be typed up or they need to create slideshows, graphics etc. As my classes are blended, they all need to be submitted online too. And my classes rely heavily on computers as I include online games and quizzes. In addition, I seldom have “essay” assignments, but rather ask students to use online resources to create timelines, or posters, or animations or cartoons to show their mastery of the subject.

As education becomes more and more reliant on internet access, it does become increasingly more important for each family member to have their own laptop – and not just a smartphone or iPod. Fortunately, there is a very affordable way to achieve this – the Chromebook!

My husband’s workplace and most local schools have selected Chromebooks as the device they want everyone to use. And if you are looking for an affordable laptop for students to use, you should consider them too.

So, why Chromebooks?

• They are cheap. Right now I can find ones from $149 on Amazon and there are plenty of options under $200!
• Chromebooks are easy to maintain because they use the Chrome operating system – and they are updated automatically
• Chromebooks use the Google environment so you can download any of the apps in the Google store.
• research
• No virus scanners needed as virus protection is built in.
• No backups are needed as everything you do is automatically stored in the cloud.
• If you need to create a document that can be downloaded by others, you can create pdfs.
• It doesn’t matter which member of your family uses which Chromebook- all will give the user the same access to their saved documents.
• They are more reliable as there are fewer parts to them than regular laptops, and so less to go wrong

What are the drawbacks?

Of course, there are limitations to Chromebooks that you do need to consider:

• They can really only be used for online games – their capabilities are too limited for “serious” gaming. But, of course, if this is essentially a laptop to be used for school, is this a drawback?
• You can’t download software on to them eg Adobe Photoshop. You just have to make do with online applications.
• If you are used to the Microsoft environment, well, this is different
• There is only a very small hard drive so you need to get used to storing everything in the cloud
• Chromebooks assume internet connectivity. They have very limited offline capabilities.

But for a family that needs a few more laptops so that all family members can be working online when they need to be, it is hard to beat the Chromebook for great value!

The best time to find extra special prices will be between Thanksgiving and Christmas and particularly on Cyber Monday, but these laptops are fortunately very affordable any time of the year (prices on Amazon are always good)

If you have Chromebooks at home, please share you experience with them in the comments below.

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