Month: September 2019

Help Shaun the Sheep and Lu-La in our global competition!

Exciting news: Code Club and Aardman Animations are collaborating to bring you our global ‘Shaun the Sheep: Mission to Space’ Competition for all registered Code Clubs worldwide!

The mission

Our friends Shaun the Sheep and Lu-La have been on an adventure in A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon, and they now need your Code Club’s help to get Lu-La back home. 

We’re asking young people in registered Code Clubs across the world to create awe-inspiring animations featuring Shaun and Lu-La’s adventures by following our specially themed ‘Shaun the Sheep: Mission to Space’ Scratch project.

The prize

The 10 creators of the best projects from around the world will win a selection of amazing prizes:

  • Their project displayed on the website
  • Exclusive Shaun the Sheep and Code Club swag for their club
  • A congratulations video from the Director of the new Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
  • And more! 

What our judges are looking for

When Code Club members are creating their ‘Shaun the Sheep: Mission to Space’ animations, they should think about: 

  • Telling a story in their animation 
  • Showcasing their coding skills
  • Being super creative 
  • Making sure they follow the project instructions

How to enter 

The competition is open to registered Code Clubs from across the world, and young people can work individually on their Scratch animations, or in groups of up to three. 

Entries will be judged in two age categories: age 11 and under, and age 12 and above. 

The competition project is available for you to complete in eight different languages: English, Chinese, Croatian, French, Korean, Spanish, Portuguese and Ukrainian.

Submissions close on Friday 1 November.

If your Code Club is in the UK, the USA, or the Republic of Ireland, head to your Code Club dashboard to see all the competition details. If your Code Club is in the rest of the world, check your inbox: there is an email waiting for you with the full details and instructions of the competition. 

Not a registered Code Club? Register today to take part in this unique competition and help rescue Shaun and Lu-La. 

Make sure you share your animations with us via our Code Club UK or Code Club World Twitter accounts using the hashtag #ShauninSpace.

Five ways to inspire your club members about code!

Whether your Code Club is just launching or has been running for a while, here are five ways for you to get your Code Club members excited about coding

A young girl is sat in a classroom working at laptop. A female volunteer is looking at her laptop screen. Both are smiling!
A young Code Club member showing her code to a volunteer.

1. Make Scratch Cat say hi! 

Just starting out with new Code Club members? Christina from Code Club USA encourages you to begin with the basics:  

“We often forget that the simplest things can inspire folks — start with the basics! Show your Code Club members how to make Scratch Cat say hi, and then have them change what the cat is saying and encourage them to try and make the cat do a dance.”

– Christina Foust, Club Program Manager, Code Club USA

2. Be ready, inspiration is contagious!

Make sure you are the first one to be inspired: join us at a FREE online webinar and make sure you’re #CodeClubReady! Talk to our team from across the world, ask your questions, and find out what support we’ve got for you. 

An illustration with too robots, the Code Club logo and words, we are #CodeClubReady

3. Send your code to space

How cool would it be to have your own code run aboard the International Space Station? Your Code Club members can do just that with the European Astro Pi Challenge!  

The Astro Pi Challenge has launched with two missions.

  • Mission Zero: With the help of a step-by-step guide, your Code Club members write a very simple Python program that will run on the International Space Station and show a message for the astronauts there! This mission is a great introduction to Python for learners who want to move on from Scratch. 
  • Mission Space Lab: participants design and write a program for a real scientific experiment that has the chance to run aboard the International Space Station. This mission has four phases and runs over eight months. 
An illustrated image with the Astro Pi logo, two astronauts and the launch date details.

4. Encourage a show-and-tell 

Hold a show-and-tell session to celebrate you club members’ achievements! You can even invite your club members’ friends and family and teach them about coding by having the club members showcase what they’ve been creating and learning. If your Code Club is registered on our website, download certificates from your dashboard to hand out to your members at the end of the show-and-tell to make it really special. 

“A show-and-tell is a great place for your club members to share what they’ve learned and also talk about anything they found challenging. It leads to great discussions and encourages the other children to ask further questions.”

– Rohima Cooke, Code Club Regional Coordinator, South East 

An older ladies hands working on a laptop, drawing a person on the laptop screen.
A family member taking part in a show-and-tell session

5. Build your own game

Who doesn’t love to play games at home? Inspire your learners to create and code their own games. With our free step-by-step projects for Scratch, Python, and Blender, children can easily learn how to make games. You never know, you may have the next Tim Sweeney, game developer of Fortnite, in your group!

How do you get your Code Club members excited about coding? Share your ideas with us on Facebook and Twitter using the hashtag #MyCodeClub.