Seattle CoderDojo – JavaScript Game Development Workshop – June 13 – August 22

THIS IS A SPECIAL WORKSHOP. THIS TICKET IS FOR ALL FIVE SATURDAY MORNING SESSIONS. June 13, June 27, July 11, August 8, August 22.10 a.m. to noon.

In this class, students will develop a game using Javascript.  Over the course of 5 lessons, we will build the components and assemble them into a functional game, while discussing higher-order programming concepts such as debugging and object-oriented programming.  Each lesson will begin with a short discussion followed by interactive programming exercises.  By the end of the series, students will have each constructed a unique, playable game.  Students should have some experience in coding but knowledge of Javascript is not required.

There is more to programming than just coding; once a project gets beyond a very small size, issues of code organization become increasingly important.  Just as the organization of tools is critical in a shop, and organization of a kitchen is critical to a chef, organization of code in a large project is critical to its success.

Because these principles are easiest to understand through the action of writing programs, we will focus on having the students write code for the majority of class time.  The projects we’ll work on will provide compelling results right off the bat.  By making modifications to existing programs and writing their own, they’ll learn valuable lessons about programming.

Each lesson will cover an important topic in code organization, while building a component of the game.  Students will customize these components while building them and will see how their decisions affect the resulting game after we put it all together in the last lesson.

We’ll cover the following topics:

• Drawing shapes

• Animation

• Commenting

• Factoring

• Object-Oriented Design

• User Interaction

• Scorekeeping

• Debugging

• Refactoring

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

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WHAT IS SEATTLE CODERDOJO?

It’s a coding club where kids ages 8-17 can learn the skills to make computer games and other programs.

WHAT KIND OF GAMES AND PROGRAMS CAN THEY LEARN TO MAKE?

Games for the web, games for PCs and Macs, games for XBox… Racing games, adventure games, puzzle games, guessing games… If your child has never never programmed before, they’re not going to make MarioKart or Angry Birds on their first time out, but if they keep coming to CoderDojo, we’ll help them get there.

And yes, if they are mature and focused enough to want to make the next Google, Amazon, or Facebook, we can help them learn to do that too.

WHAT DOES THIS COST?

It’s free. Our organizers and mentors are volunteers and space is donated by our generous sponsors.

IS THIS A CLASS?

This is mentor-led instruction. The beginners will get some basic lessons to start with while the more advanced kids can work on their own ideas with mentors helping them when they get stuck.

WHAT DO I NEED TO BRING?

Bring your age 8-17 child and a laptop running Windows, OSX (Mac), or Linux. You’ll need to stay for the whole CoderDojo (no drop-offs). Your laptop should be able to connect to WiFi and have a battery that will last for 2 hours.

WHAT SOFTWARE DO I NEED?

If your child is brand new, they’ll just need a web browser and a text editor. Every operating system (Windows, Mac, or Linux) comes with these installed. If your child will need additional software, our mentors will help you install it. 

CAN MY CHILD BRING A FRIEND?

You can reserve up to three child tickets. If you want to bring one of your child’s friends, as long as they’ll fit in your three and their parents are okay with you accepting the waiver on their behalf, you’re good.