How CoderDojo Indiana hosted a parents’ workshop — and how you can too!

Parents and guardians play a huge part in the CoderDojo movement — they make it possible for young people to get involved, support their children to learn and create, and sometimes become involved themselves as volunteers!

A parent-focused session

In July, the team at CoderDojo Indiana hosted their third annual Hackathon. This was attended by almost 100 young people and was a fun day filled with workshops, talks and project demonstrations. One of the sessions at the Hackathon was ‘CoderDojo 101 for Parents’

The session was led by a local champion, Chris Hebb, and also included a talk from our Program Manager for North America, Christina Foust, who travelled to the event as a guest speaker. Parents also got the opportunity to see what being a Ninja is like by practicing a Scratch project! 

Program Manager for North America, Christina, delivering a talk to parents at the Indiana Hackathon!

Providing an introduction to CoderDojo for parents

While most of the parents and guardians who attended the Indiana Hackathon already had an awareness of what our movement is all about, CoderDojo may still be a brand new concept to lots of parents. 

CoderDojo Indiana champion Chris covers suggestions for parents at the ‘Parents 101’ workshop   

The organisers of the ‘CoderDojo 101 for Parents’ session made use of our parent-specific presentation deck. This deck is designed to give parents and guardians a short introduction to CoderDojo. Whether you are an existing CoderDojo champion, mentor or parent, you may like to deliver this presentation to new parents in your community to generate excitement about getting involved!

Download our presentation deck for parents!

Using the CoderDojo Parents’ Handbook

The CoderDojo Parents’ Handbook was the basis for the ‘CoderDojo 101 for Parents’ session. This handbook is our essential guide for any parent or guardian who would like to know more about CoderDojo!

The Parents’ Handbook provides an introduction to the points listed below, and were amongst the topics discussed at the ‘Parents 101’ session:

• • What is coding and why it is such a useful skill in today’s world
  • Advice for parents on how to support their child’s learning
  • Suggestions for how parents can get involved in their local Dojo
  • CoderDojo for young people on the Autism spectrum

Download the Parents’ Handbook for free!

We’d like to say a huge well done to the organisers of the CoderDojo Indiana Hackathon. We love how parents were included in the planning of the event, and were no doubt inspired by the activities on offer!