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The Code Club Blog A global network of free coding clubs Menu Widgets Search Home RSS RSS - Posts RSS - Comments RSS - Posts RSS - Comments Search for: Express yourself: Make a mood board webpage in your Code Club Our ‘Mood board’ project, from the Introduction to web design path, helps young people turn their inspiration into a mood board webpage, filled with colours, images, and fonts they’ve carefully selected . Kevin, Club Programs Manager, USA, explains why ‘ Mood board ’ is a great creative outlet for your club members and why a mood board webpage is a fun way for young people to share their interests and creativity with the world in the 2024 Coolest Projects online showcase . Kevin, Clubs Programs Manager, USA Hi Kevin! Can you share one of your favourite Code Club projects with us? Oh yes! I’ve had so much fun coding through our ‘ Mood board ’ project, a design project in our ‘ Introduction to web: HTML, CSS, and animations ’ project path. If you’re not sure what a mood board is, think of it as a visual noticeboard, where you can gather images, colours, ideas — anything that sparks inspiration! I chose this project because creating a physical mood board can be overwhelming with the different materials they require. But this project centralises all the materials into one place, so I have unlimited options for what I can create! Alongside the creative elements of this project, it’s a great introduction for coders to learn how to structure and style webpages. As HTML and CSS are relatively easy to pick up, it gives young people quick successes to celebrate! ‘Mood board’ project Who do you think this project is suitable for? HTML and CSS are fantastic ways to introduce young coders to web development. This project provides immediate visual feedback as coders can change colours, add images, and play with fonts. If you have coders who love to map out their steps to success before getting started, ‘Mood board’ is the perfect project for them! Sometimes you have to visualise your goals before you can see the steps to take to achieve them, and this project will teach them how to do just that! What skills will young people learn from completing ‘Mood board’? This project encourages young people to explore creative self-expression. I found it helped me gain a clearer picture of how I like to share my creativity with others. Not only did it help me feel more comfortable making design choices, but also helped me to organise my thoughts so that I could truly see how I might go about completing a goal or sharing a topic that matters to me. What are the development/remix opportunities? I love expressing myself with unique fonts and colours! I’d encourage coders to create their own custom fonts and colours for a truly one-of-a-kind mood board webpage. Once they have completed their mood board, I’d support young coders to present their mood board to their peers and ask for feedback. They could also set their peers a challenge to create their own! How can young people use the ‘Mood board’ project to enter Coolest Projects? If a young coder has an idea for solving a problem in their community or a passion they want to share with the world, they can enter their mood board into Coolest Projects . Kevin at Coolest Projects Ireland 2024 Thank you, Kevin! Encourage your club members to develop their skills with ‘Mood board’! They can show off their work by submitting it to the Coolest Projects showcase and celebrate their achievements with young coders around the world! Young people have until 22 May to submit their creations to Coolest Projects. If you need further support, check out the resources for mentors webpage . Make sure you share your progress on X using the hashtag #CoolestProjects. May 2nd, 2024 codeclub Code Club , Coolest Projects , HTML resources , Web design ‘Hello World’: The perfect Python project for your Code Club Are you ready to introduce your Code Club members to the exciting world of text-based coding? Vasu, our Programme Manager in India, shares her enthusiasm for our ‘ Hello World ’ Python project. Discover why it’s the perfect starting point for anyone wanting to learn Python and how your young coders can showcase their creations in the 2024 Coolest Projects online showcase . Meet Vasu Hi Vasu! You’ve introduced a lot of young people in India to our projects. Can you share your favourite with us? Great question! As someone with no formal coding background, diving into Scratch and Python has been quite a journey. A standout for me is the Python ‘ Hello World ‘ project. It’s a fantastic starter for anyone — after all, who doesn’t love emojis? ? This project is in our Introduction to Python: Variables, functions, and loops path and it serves as an excellent introduction to the Explore projects of 3…2…1…Make! ‘Hello World’ Who do you think this project is suitable for? It’s a great project for all ages! It’s the perfect way to show beginners how approachable Python can be, especially for those nervous about moving on from block-based programming languages, like Scratch. They’ll quickly see it’s not as intimidating as it seems! Go on, give it a go! What skills will young people learn from completing ‘Hello World’? As Code Club members work through this path, they create an interactive project that uses emojis, they’ll learn how to store text and numbers in variables, and use functions to organise their code. What struck me wasn’t just the technical skills gained from working through the project, but the shift in mindset it brought. It’s a confidence booster for beginners, easing anxiety and building the skills to progress on to the other projects in the ‘Introduction to Python’ path. Young coders from Udaipur, India Do you have any tips for introducing this project into a Code Club session? The key tip is ensuring kids have a solid foundation in block-based coding skills before transitioning to text-based programming. Once they’re comfortable with programming basics, help them transition into Python. Our ‘Hello World’ project is also one of the projects where we’re trialling the full integration of our new Code Editor ! Within the code editor, young people can have the project guide and code in the same window. As we’ve removed the need to switch tabs, learners can focus on coding and having fun! How can young people use the ‘Hello World’ project to enter Coolest Projects? It is an easy project to start with. Young people can use the skills learnt in this project andYou could also look at introducing Digital Leaders within your Code Club. We know that many clubs bring more fun and enthusiasm into their sessions by using KAHOOT! quizzes or running icebreaker activities. You could lead these activities or you could encourage groups of young people to work together to run them. Building a strong sense of community not only makes learning more fun, but also builds confidence and resilience in young people as they navigate any potential coding challenges. Darren Bayliss, Code Club Community Coordinator for Ireland, shares how he does this in his Code Club sessions: I support my older Code Club members in taking on more responsibilities to develop their skills. I encourage them to support our younger members with their coding projects; this helps them reinforce their understanding of coding concepts and develop their leadership and mentoring skills, while also gaining confidence to push their coding endeavours further.” Darren Bayliss, Code Club Community Coordinator, Ireland Promote creativity While we encourage you to have some structure to your sessions, allowing plenty of space for creativity can significantly enhance the fun factor and increase engagement in your Code Club. Encourage learners to personalise their projects, add unique features, and explore their creativity. This makes coding more enjoyable and promotes innovation and problem-solving skills. Getting creative with Scratch Introduce hands-on activities Consider incorporating...