Summer camp, but behind a laptop.
From Monday 19 July onwards, eighteen children between the ages of 10 and 12 are learning the programming language Hedy. In the Snellius building of Leiden University they will be taught the first principles of programming this week.
Hedy has been specially developed for children and is a graded programming language. Just like in a computer game, you learn the rules step by step until, at the end, you know all the rules necessary for programming in, for example, the well-known programming language Python.
Digital haunted house
The children who are 'camping' in Snellius this week are very enthusiastic and the ideas are endless. They have already made their own digital haunted house populated by witches and zombies, a programme that can predict who will win the cup final in 2022, a multiplication tables practice quiz. And through their Hedy "console" you can even order chips. Unfortunately, Hedy cannot yet turn on the fryer herself.
Below is a photo impression.
Hedy is a huge success worldwide and has been translated into English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, Hungarian, Swahili and Chinese (Mandarin). A million programs have already been created with Hedy all over the world. Because it is an 'open source' programme, anyone can add something to it.