Tinkering, Coding, Making is the series born from the workshop/project ICS - Immaginare Crescere Sviluppare (Imagine Grow Develop) from the Fondazione Mondo Digitale (Digital World Foundation). The project consists of gathering a series of “recipes” with many ingredients, preparation times and step to follow, for teachers who want to use innovative didactics, starting from tools and resources that they already have or are easy to find.

TINKERING, CODING AND MAKING: WHAT ARE THEY?

Tinkering, coding and making are three engaging teaching practices, applicable at school and at home, to guide children in carrying out activities that combine technology, science and art. These practices are essential to developing socio-cognitive processes, training the imagination, empowering and implementing forms of creativity that are the basis of the fundamental savoir-faire of the 21st century.

Tinkering, or fiddling around, is a moment where creativity and experimentation are given free rein, putting hands-on activities at the centre. The tinkering activities are based on common, recycled and recovered materials, and develop skills such as: analyzing, maintaining concentration, knowing how to work independently, recognizing one's own limits and those of the situations one is confronted with, evaluating different hypotheses, making devices.

Coding, or programming (even only when using a sketchbook), is an activity that allows the development of computational thinking, which consists of recognizing patterns, breaking down complex problems into simple problems, developing algorithms, finding solutions and generalizing them. Through coding, we learn the multiple functions of the computer and become familiar with the interaction between man and machine, protagonist of the near future.

Making, or giving life to a common project by creating it, favours collaboration, communication, and the development of critical thinking skills. By bringing together information, knowledge and ideas, the makers produce original and innovative products (objects, tools, materials) to meet different needs.

CONTENTS

In each volume of the series, 8 activities are suggested, divided equally into two groups: plugged, or rather connected to technology or devices, and unplugged, or disconnected from any type of technology. For each activity, photographs and all necessary instructions are provided:

• target skills;
• preparation and activity times;
• the teacher’s role;
• necessary materials;
• steps to follow;
• advice and variations on the topic.

INTENDED USERS

The volumes in the series Tinkering, Coding, Making are aimed at enterprising teachers and parents who want to introduce children to tinkering, coding and making in a fun and creative way.

THE VOLUMES IN THE SERIES

• TINKERING, CODING, MAKING FOR CHILDREN AGES 11 TO 13 YEARS

The fourth volume in the series is intended for teachers and parents, to create tinkering, coding and making activities with children ages 11 to 13 years.

The 8 proposed activities are:

• 3,2,1… Go!
• The real dimensions of the world
• The democratic board game
• What is a byte?
• Programme or be programmed
• Digital citizenship
• Visual poetry
• The timeline

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• TINKERING, CODING, MAKING FOR CHILDREN AGES 8 TO 11 YEARS

The third volume in the series is aimed at teachers and parents, to create tinkering, coding and making activities with children ages 8 to 11 years.

The 8 proposed activities are:

• Idea-land
• Objects from the world
• Let’s play noise maker
• Little compendium of coding unplugged
• Food footprint
• Ecosystems and string art
• Story time geometry
• Emotive robots

Moreover, Tetra-bot will be a game companion in a quiz whose questions will be useful to consolidate the new skills acquired in the volume.

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• TINKERING, CODING, MAKING FOR CHILDREN AGES 6 TO 8 YEARS

The second volume of the series is intended for primary school teachers and parents, to create tinkering, coding and making activities with children ages 6 to 8 years.

The 8 proposed activities are:

• Bucolic fractals
• Soft circuits
• Bright rings
• Coding and Post-it® art
• The fun of programming
• Ozobot’s string
• Newton spinning tops
• Monstrous stories.

Accompanied by the kind Tetra-bot, the children will also be able to discover the conductivity of fruit and question its geographical origins and the sustainability of family spending.

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• TINKERING, CODING, MAKING FOR CHILDREN AGES 4 TO 6 YEARS

The first volume in the series is aimed at pre-school teachers and parents, to create tinkering, coding and making activities with children ages 4 to 6 years.

The 8 proposed activities are:

• Analog «augmented» reality
• Steam pinball
• Animated stories
• Puzzle solving
• Programming human robots
• Programming the bee escape
• Little sensory book makers
• Drawings to listen to

Moreover, the children will be guided in creating Tetra-bot, the robotic mascot of Tetra Pak®, who will accompany them in the various activities.

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FONDAZIONE MONDO DIGITALE

Fondazione Mondo Digitale (FMD) works towards creating a knowledgeable democratic society which promotes innovation, education, inclusion and fundamental values. The foundation is based on the idea that the benefits of knowledge, new technologies and innovation must be available for all people without any kind of discrimination.