The TX Youth Code Jam is a virtual hackathon, and open to submissions from any student in the United States in grades K-12. Entries are due on April 24, 2020. Coding is not required for the projects, but any students who are registered can learn more about coding and other topics in the scheduled online workshops. (My wonderful friend, Michelle Amey, is presenting a workshop for parents to encourage creative thinking, and her son is doing an Advanced Scratch Workshop.) It is free to enter the Code Jam, and creativity is highly encouraged. The requirement for each submission is that it must be something the student (or team of students) created to solve a problem. You can view the challenges here.
The Code Jam is offering lots of cool prizes, but the hope is that children will have fun designing, problem solving, and learning as they participate. As our current quarantine situation has made us painfully aware, people who are solely consumers in our society find themselves to be far too dependent on others to provide sustenance and entertainment. If your child needs some inspiration, go to the Resources page of TX Youth Code Jam, and scroll down to the section, “Kids like you innovating during the pandemic.” It’s great to see what young people can do!
