Get computing
Primary
A great computing resource that can support children’s learning with or without a computer. Barefoot focuses on computational thinking which helps children to solve problems in computing. Problem solving supports many other subjects and can be applied to everyday life.
KS2
Computing website on the BBC who will be changing content regularly to support learning at home. Activities support a range of computing aims including programming, using technology and online safety. There are descriptions of terms and games to play
Ages 7-11
This gives a number of programming problems for children. Start with the maze and drag and stack the instructions on top of each other to solve each problem in turn.
Ages 4-16
Coding tutorials for all ages which are simple to do and include detailed instructions with video instructions in many cases. Most provide short challenges that build up skills. Activities include programming some dance characters, Minecraft, Building a Galaxy, Making a Flappy Game, Code with Anna and Elsa linked to Frozen, making mazes with Kodable, Moana wayfinding with Code. Some activities require Google Chrome. For older learners
Ages 11+
Digital enterprise award scheme you can complete online. Complete activities in a range of areas including digital literacy, staying safe online and developing confidence with technology. Earn badges to recognise your achievements.
Age 5-7
Your child can choose a background and then use the arrows on the character to move it around to explore the backgrounds. Children can choose the pen to draw their route and you can set them challenges of where to get to. Children can also use the tabs at the top to do other activities like writing and painting on screen.
KS2
Kodu lets children create games on Windows PCs using a simple visual programming language. Click on resources where they have compiled training videos, sample lessons and starter worlds to explore. This is free to download and use.
Age 8+
Children can use their programming skills to give directions to an on-screen robot and solve problems. The robot can walk, rotate, grab, shoot and put the misplaced battery packs at the factory back in their right place – if you tell him the right moves.
Ages 8+
This supports creative computer programming. Children / young people can play games that others have created in Scratch or go to the Create area to make their own. Scratch helps young people learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively — essential skills for life in the 21st century. There are tutorials to help. Scratch 3 needs Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox or Microsoft Edge to work.
Ages 5 to 7
Scratch Junior enables children ages 5 to 7 to program their own interactive stories and games through learning to solve problems, be creative and design projects. It is available as a free app on the App Store and Google Play. There are 75 activity cards giving fun projects to help young children learn.
Ages 4-16
A range of fun, practical activities for families to use at home. Activities for 4 – 11 include investigations linked to lunar research and a Mars mission. For 7 -11 making models to understand weather, looking at animal adaptations, creating a TV show, how things are done to make movies look realistic and impacts of global warming and melting ice on the Earth. Activities for 11-16 link to engineering careers, scientific innovations to make our bodies better, use of technology to improve the world and investigating the science, technology engineering and maths needed to survive on a desert island.
Primary to Post-16
The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and maths) learning team have subject experts who have put together a freely available set of resources. There are also experts that you can chat with via webchat. Resources cover primary, secondary biology, secondary chemistry, secondary physics, secondary computing, secondary D&T, secondary maths and post- 16.
Ages 6+
With more and more work done on electronic devices, typing is becoming a key skill. Teaching basic keyboard skills lets children concentrate on content as typing becomes automatic. There are plenty of free resources on the web and there is a list here – some teach keyboard skills and some provide games for children to practice. Some sites are flash based, so will not run on mobile devices.