From a CANVAS Facebook post

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[Kids Creative Lab in Shibuya]

On September 6, we held the Kids Creative Lab in Shibuya.
This time, parents and children got to try their hand at programming together!

Preschoolers use VISCUIT, while elementary school students use Scratch—both visual programming languages.
With visual programming languages, programming is possible through visual operations that do not require writing code, as well as simple actions like drag-and-drop, allowing even young children to experience the basics of programming while having fun.

In the preschool class, the children tried letting the creatures they drew swim around on a tablet screen that looked like the ocean! The little ocean gradually became more and more lively with the drawings created by each parent and child.
At the end, there was even a moment when everyone’s drawings appeared all at once in a large ocean projected onto the wall.

In the elementary school class, both children and adults each use their own computer to try their hand at creating games using Scratch.
“Wouldn’t it be more fun if we did it this way?”
“I found this block!”
In the elementary school class, children and adults could be seen teaching and consulting with one another.
You’ve surely had the experience of having fun playing games before. But by learning about
programming, you can do more than just enjoy games—you can actually bring your ideas to life by thinking, “Maybe it would be even more fun if we did it this way!”

In both classes,
the children were seen working with their parents to explore the ideas that emerged as they got their hands dirty
—such as “I want to do this! How can I make it happen?”—and experimenting through trial and error.
For these children, “learning to program” may become an even more familiar part of their lives in the future. We hope that
today’s experience served as an opportunity for both the children and the adults to discover the joy of programming.

The Kids Creative Lab in Shibuya will continue to host workshops where parents and children can participate together.
Under the motto “Kids and Adults Make Together!”, we’ll offer unique “hands-on” experiences and experiment-style programs!
We hope you’ll join us!
http://www.canvas.ws/kenkyujo/shibuya/index.html