The additional free time students have during winter break is ripe with opportunity for them to learn new skills and explore their interests in technology with fun activities like a winter tech camps. A winter tech camp is a camp dedicated to teaching students specific tech-related skills like coding, programming, game-building, and more. The camps featured in this blog stand out among other tech camps offered because of the small group class sizes and specialized curriculum. Your student can also start exploring tech skills right away with award-winning free coding classes.
Discover fun winter tech camps
Today's selection of virtual winter break camps are developed by experts from Google, Stanford, and MIT with the intention to cultivate students’ critical thinking and creativity skills instead of just teaching them to copy and paste lines of code. Virtual learning is the optimal environment for winter tech camps because it affords students with flexibility: they can learn in an environment they’re comfortable in while having access to the best teachers nationwide.
1. Scratch Junior
Scratch Junior is a fantastic way to get young children interested in how coding works. Designed to be fun and interactive, this Scratch Junior tech camp teaches young students how to build imaginative stories, games, and virtual characters using basic coding concepts. Scratch Junior was developed by the same experts who created the popular Scratch coding platform, designed by MIT, which uses drag-and-drop blocks instead of complex syntax. For older students interested in starting to learn how to code, be sure to check out Scratch Ninja and Accelerated Scratch camps!
Best for: Young children interested in learning basic coding skills and using their imagination
Type of camp: Live online camp with a 3 students per camp max
Grades: K-2
2. NASA STEM
This camp is designed for space lovers! If your child’s curiosity piques when stars, planets, and rockets are mentioned, this is the camp for them. Students participate in interactive project-based learning covering rovers, asteroids, Mars, and much more.
Best for: Those curious and fascinated by all things space-related
Type of camp: Live online camp with a 8 students per camp max
Grades: 1-4
3. Minecraft Redstone Engineering
If your child enjoys building in Minecraft, this is the perfect camp for them. Not available anywhere else, Create & Learn's Minecraft Redstone Engineering camp teaches students how to identify and utilize the rare Minecraft element of Redstone to engineer powerful inventions. Students will learn how to translate engineering and computer science concepts learned through Minecraft into practical applications.
Best for: Kids who want to take their Minecraft building skills to the next level
Type of camp: Live online camp with a 5 students per camp max
Grades: 2-5
4. Minecraft Modding Quest and Minecraft Coding Quest
Minecraft Coding Quest and Minecraft Modding Quest are excellent camp options for students who love Minecraft and find game-building rewarding. Both camps teach core coding concepts, game-building, and creativity. Grades 2-5 will enjoy Minecraft Modding Quest, which employs Minecraft Education Edition to focus on modifying standing Minecraft game elements. For grades 5-9, Minecraft Coding Quest focuses on skills used in advanced text-based programming languages.
Best for: Students who want to transform their Minecraft world through code
Type of camp: Live online camp with a 5 students per camp max
Grades: 2-5 (Minecraft Modding Quest) and 5-9 (Minecraft Coding Quest)
5. Junior Robotics
Junior Robotics is an excellent introduction to the realm of robotics. In this camp, students will complete fun and engaging projects demonstrating ways coding is used in robotics. Students will explore how robots can be used to solve problems, how to navigate robots in a virtual setting, how to make robots transport objects, and more.
Best for: Younger students who want to explore the world of robotics
Type of camp: Live online camp with a 5 students per camp max
Grades: 2-4
6. Create with ChatGPT
This interactive course offers students a comprehensive understanding of ChatGPT and provides practical guidance on utilizing it effectively. Students will learn how to think systematically and critically by planning fun activities with the assistance of ChatGPT, which promotes the development of important executive functions. Additionally, they will enhance their creative writing skills by utilizing ChatGPT to develop storylines, create character profiles, and master sentence structuring for impactful messages. Students even learn how to code their own ChatBot using ChatGPT as a foundation. Moreover, the camp emphasizes the ethical considerations surrounding the use of ChatGPT and AI.
Best for: Beginner students who want to explore cutting-edge technology
Type of camp: Live online camp with a 5 students per camp max
Grades: 4-8
7. Modern Website Design with Wix
This camp covers a wide range of topics in web design: from the basics of how to use Wix and structure a website, to designing layout, choosing color schemes, and even creating a web store to sell products. The ability to design your own website allows you to bring to life your artistic visions, feature your school/community events, publicize sports teams or clubs, help local non-profits, and more. Upon completion of this camp, each student will have created a portfolio of websites.
Best for: Students who want to learn how to create their own stunning websites
Type of camp: Live online camp with a 5 students per camp max
Grades: 5-12
8. Mobile Coding for Apps and Games
In this exciting camp, students learn the ins and outs of coding their own mobile apps. Students will use Thunkable, a block-based programming platform that’s easy to use but commonly employed by professionals in commercial applications. Through various fun and interactive projects, students learn about design layout, how to utilize different mobile features like touch screen and camera, and advanced cloud computing concepts. By the end of this class, students will be comfortable building a wide range of mobile games and apps.
Best for: Students interested in learning how to create their own mobile apps
Type of camp: Live online camp with a 3 students per camp max
Grades: 4-9
9. Python for AI
In this Python camp, students will not only learn the advanced coding language of Python, but also the elements of Python that are most relevant to the increasingly-important field of Artificial Intelligence. As a coding language, Python is used by companies like Netflix and Google for web development, game development, building apps, machine learning, and much more. This camp is geared towards students who are looking to learn more advanced coding skills and have prior experience with Scratch coding or Minecraft Modding.
Best for: Advanced coding students looking to set their skill set apart
Type of camp: Live online camp with a 5 students per camp max
Grades: 5-12
10. Beginner Roblox Game Coding
In this fun live virtual class students will learn the foundational coding skills to create their own games in Roblox, the popular gaming platform with over 40 million games! This class is designed for students to become equipped with foundational Roblox coding skills without having to use the standard and very complicated game development tool most commonly used for Roblox, Lua. Instead they use fun block coding that's easier to understand! They'll learn how to make a dodgeball game, multi-player games and even a game modeled after the highly popular infinity run game where players must turn, dodge, and jump to avoid obstacles and gain points!
Best for: Students with prior advanced Scratch coding experience and interest in game-building or Roblox
Type of camp: Live online camp with a 5 students per camp max
Grades: 3-8
If you’d prefer an in-person tech camp there are a few options out there like Digital Dragon, Bricks 4 Kids, and more, such as those on Activity Hero.
Enjoy winter tech camps
There are a wide variety of excellent virtual winter break tech camps to choose from this upcoming winter break. Whether your student is in kindergarten and new to coding, or about to graduate from high school and nearly a pro, there is a winter tech camp suited for them.
Up next, explore some fun winter coding activities for kids.
