👩‍💻👩💻 Mindjoy | Kid at Heart Build Challenge

Welcome!

We are excited to announce our Kid at 💙 Build Challenge, together with EdTech startup, Mindjoy.

One of the best ways to learn new and hard things like coding is to work on software projects that excite you, and believe it or not, this is true for grown-ups and kids alike.

Project-based learning is a great way to gain knowledge of new technical skills in greater depth and creates an opportunity for you to actively practice coding and keep your skills sharp.

Channel your inner kid and build that awesome project you wish you had as a 13-year-old!

If you’re sold already, you can register to participate here.

A message from Mindjoy founder, Gabi Immelman

Important Dates

Registration open Tuesday, 15th November → Register here Submissions close on Monday 28 November, 23h59 -> Submit your build here Join us & Mindjoy for awesome build demos on Wed 30 November, 18h30 -> Register to attend here

What is the Kid at Heart Build Challenge about?

From 2023, Coding and Robotics will form part of the SA school curriculum. Through their engagement with schools, Mindjoy has learnt that educators are, however, unsure about how to introduce coding into their classrooms.

Software developers with deep domain knowledge and experience - that’s you! - are well positioned to support kids' coding initiatives through building awesome software projects that can be broken down into engaging smaller modular projects for kids.

This challenge is all about building a project that channels your inner kid, contributes to your learning journey and enables kids to have a fun learning experience too.

We've teamed up with Mindjoy because they are all about creating great learning experiences that engage and challenge kids to learn real tech skills in a hands-on way.

You can chat with us in the dedicated Slack channel or email [e-mail] with any questions.

Stay updated on the Kid at Heart Build Challenge by joining our Slack channel

FAQs

Who can participate and how do I register?

We have opened this challenge up to the developer community and you are welcome to invite your friends to participate.

You can participate alone or as part of a team and you can be part of multiple teams if you want to.

You can register to participate here.

Do I need to use a specific environment for kids to learn?

Yes, you will need to create your project in Replit. You can create a free account here.

Replit have some really nice and easy-to-read guides to get going quickly.

Replit is a great place for kids (and grown-ups) to learn how to code. They have recently launched Replit Mobile and are on a mission to make coding accessible to kids and adults in Africa.

Do I need to use a specific coding language for my project?

No, you can use any language supported by Replit.

If you are wondering what languages are good for kids, Python 🐍 is a great choice because it is easy to read, write and learn. This means that kids don’t need to go through strenuous learning before the fun begins. The syntax is also simple and it can be used to build complex programs.

Woah I don’t know anything about teaching kids to code. Do I need to create a step-by-step lesson for kids?

You just need to build the project and document it. Mindjoy's superpower is taking awesome projects and breaking them into modules that kids of various experience levels can follow to create the project for themselves.

Are there any project ideas that I can use to build against?

Absolutely, we’ve got you covered. You can take a look at the project ideas here.

Of course, you aren’t limited to building projects based on these ideas.

What must my submission include and where do I submit it?

The closing date for your final solution is Monday 28 November, 23:59 SAST.

You can submit your builds here.

Each submission must include:

• A link to your project, on Replit, released under the MIT Licence (see below).

• Documentation for setting up your solution.

• Two-minute video/ live demo describing the problem you tackled and how your project works to solve it

• A team/individual photo

• Your solution must:

  • Use Replit for building and storing your code.

Where can I find help?

If you need help/advice while building, or want to find others to join you, ask participating teams and the community in the Slack channel.

Our Community Champ, Devin Pearson, will also be available to guide you. There are two ways you can reach out to Devin for support:

• AskMeAnything (AMA) on Slack - Don’t be shy to ask Devin questions on the Slack channel. He is very nice and super wise. Your questions are useful to other participants.

• Book a time slot - You can book some one-on-one time with Devin here.

What are the important dates I should know about?

Registration opens Tuesday, 15th November → Register here Submit your build before Monday 28 November, 23h59 -> Submit your build here Online demo event on Wed 30 November, 18h30 -> Register to attend here

What are the prizes?

OfferZen hoodies are up for grabs for participants!

What happens after I submit my build?

We will be hosting an online event where teams will be asked to demo their projects to the community so that everyone can learn from each other’s build experiences.

We will contact you when you submit your projects with the details.

We may also reach out to you about publishing your solution on the OfferZen Blog to showcase it to the developer community.

How do I open-source my build?

In the spirit of the community, you are required to open-source your code under the MIT License. To do so, you need to copy the text below into your documentation and include source files as applicable.

// Begin license text.

Copyright <YEAR> <COPYRIGHT HOLDER>

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

// End license text.

By submitting, you grant OfferZen & Mindjoy permission to use screenshots, code-snippets and links to your project or content of your submission on our Twitter, blog, website, email updates, and in OfferZen slack channels.

Rules

Disqualification

You may be disqualified and forfeit any prizes you may be eligible to receive if OfferZen or Mindjoy reasonably believes that you have not complied with or attempted to undermine the legitimate operation of the Kid at Heart Build Challenge.