5 Great Reasons for Kids to try Tech This Summer

5 Great Reasons for Kids to try Tech This Summer

Categorized under: technology education for kids

Over the summer, kids are released from school for 3 months. Parents who are accustomed to having their kids educated now need to find things for their kids to do. For some, their kids are enrolled in a multitude of camps. Other families extensively travel during the summer to give their kids a more expansive world view. If the kids are older, they may start a business or find an internship at a larger company.

Regardless of what option are being considered, there are a few reasons why kids should try to learn about technology during the summer.

Low Risk 

There are many different options for kids to explore technology during the summer months. From the park district to programs hosted by dedicated education technology providers like ours, there are many different ways for kids to engage with tech. Whether they choose a single hour, single day or full week option, summer is a great time to see if your child might enjoy building with tech. Since, most programs during the summer are a fixed duration, you don’t have to worry about being stuck with a class or camp that your child doesn’t enjoy for an extended period of time. At the conclusion of the experience, you will have a better sense of whether or not your child wants to continue learning to build with technology.

Community building

Technology has penetrated large parts of society. From multi-function smartphones in our pockets to the development of self-driving vehicles, to be successful in future careers will require collaboration with developers. Since the emerging developers of today are the professional technologists of tomorrow, it’s best to begin the process of building community early. For those who have already expressed interest or an affinity towards technology, there is often an opportunity to further build community with those who are already building relationships. Typically, emerging technologists are interested in bringing more people into the community. Even if your child doesn’t ultimately choose to get more engaged with building with technology, they will have learned more about what members of the community are like.

More time

Whether, it is the traditional school day or a multitude of extracurricular activities, most kids are extremely over-scheduled during the school year. During the summer, an entire block of time, the school day, is now open. It’s an amazing opportunity to see what technology is all about.  Given this increase in available time, you want to make sure your child is not only having fun but also learning. Steve Jobs famously said that a computer is like a bicycle for the mind. Just like we want our kids to get exercise by going outside to play, we also want them to continue to engage their brains so that all the great learnings from the academic year aren’t completely lost during the summer months.

Productive Screen Time 

We all know that excessive screen time can be a concern for young people. However, much of our concern over screen time can be attributed that kids don’t have a full understanding of what else they can do with technology tools. From 3D modeling to video game design & robotics, there is so much more that kids can do on screens than just watch YouTube videos or play Fortnite. During the summer, you can expose your kids to these options to spark their creativity and interest in moving beyond the content consumption bubble into the wonderful world of content creation and solution development.

Different experience

There are several well established sports and academic options for kids to dive into. However, doing the same thing over and over again may not be as engaging or exciting for kids. Instead, exploring technology during the summer will give your child exposure to what else is out there. After the novelty wears off, you may just find that your child enjoys building with technology. This wouldn’t have been discovered if they simply did the same activities they have done every year.

Conclusion

As parents, we are often aware of the most popular programs - sports camps. However, there are other emerging opportunities that your child may enjoy as well. During the summer, why not explore an experience in learning to build with technology? It may just be an area that your child really enjoys.

About the Author: Omowale Casselle is the Co-Founder & CEO of Digital Adventures.