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Unlocking Your Child’s Future Through Play
Every parent wants their child to succeed not just in school but in life. But how do we help them develop the skills they will truly need for the future? The answer may be simpler than we think: PLAY.
Structured play, including coding games for kids, digital storytelling, and animation projects, does much more than entertain. It allows children to explore, experiment, and solve problems in a safe environment, building the foundation for critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills.
Problem Solving and Resilience
When children work on projects that challenge them, they learn to approach problems in new ways. They experience setbacks and discover that mistakes are part of learning. This develops resilience - a trait that will help them handle challenges at school and beyond.
Parents can support this by encouraging kids to reflect on what worked, what didn’t, and try again, rather than stepping in to solve problems for them.
Leadership and Collaboration
Many play-based activities involve teamwork. Kids learn to communicate their ideas, listen to others and take initiative. These experiences nurture leadership and collaboration skills, helping them become confident contributors in group settings.
Parents can further support development by discussing how to share ideas respectfully, take turns, and lead small projects at home.
Turning Screen Time into Learning
Not all screen time is equal. Educational screen time uses technology as a tool for creativity and exploration rather than passive consumption. By engaging with interactive coding games, animation projects, and digital storytelling, children learn skills that are meaningful and transferable.
Parents can make screen time more valuable by setting aside time for creative projects, asking questions about what their child is creating, and encouraging them to showcase their work.
Discover how to make screen time meaningful here.
Preparing for Tomorrow
The benefits of structured play go beyond fun. It equips children with problem-solving, resilience, leadership, and STEM skills that set them up for success in the future. Encouraging educational play helps parents support their child’s growth in a way that is both engaging and purposeful.
Parents can see firsthand how structured play challenges their children and fosters independence, creativity and confidence in a safe, supportive environment.
At Code Camp, we combine STEM learning and creative play in a way that inspires curiosity and builds real skills. Our after-school and holiday programs give children the opportunity to explore coding, animation, robotics and more, all while developing the tools they need to become tomorrow’s innovators.
Your Ultimate school holidays activity list
1. Get creative with Minions
What is it?
Kids go bananas for Minions (pun intended) and these school holidays they can express their fandom making a Minions movie using stop-motion animation techniques. Over 2 days, kids create their own Minions clay characters and design their own film set. The magic begins when they see their characters come to life by taking multiple images of objects and stitching them together to look like they’re moving! - It’s incredibly fun!
Why go?
If they watch their favourite animated movies on repeat, they’ll love creating Minions clay figurines and developing their own story, taking lots of still frames and stitching them together to create their very first movie!
Ages: 5-7
2. Become a DJ
What is it?
Children will take their first steps into the exciting world of mixing music to create their own DJ set.
Why go?
Kids will love mixing their favourite pop tunes using beat matching and transitions on real DJ decks. Plus, they will design their own DJ brand, develop branded merch, and even perform a DJ set to their friends!
Ages: 8-13
3. Pilot a drone
What is it?
Kids learn to pilot a drone using coding to design a flight path and watch in wonder as the drone takes flight!
Why go?
If your kid shows an interest in drones, they can learn more than just the basics of flying. Kids get a taste of cutting-edge technology and learn about coding, problem-solving, engineering, design, and more. They’ll learn about drone tech and safety, movie making, and discover how drones have a positive social impact when used to fight bushfires, rescue koalas, spot sharks on the coast and loads more!
Ages: 9-13
4. Become a YouTuber
What is it?
While they may not end up with YouTube stardom, we’re sure kids will have a new lens on screen time. They will be equipped with the skills to start producing and directing their own ideas instead of simply watching other people's! Plus, they’ll gain confidence ‘performing’ in front of audiences and on set and importantly, learn about staying safe online.
Why go?
Taking a YouTube fixation and turning it into something incredibly productive where kids will learn planning, storytelling, filming and video editing to become the star in their very own YouTube-style videos.
Ages: 8-13
5. Produce a LEGO movie
What is it?
Turn hours of playing with LEGO characters into an even more creative pursuit, by teaching kids to create their own LEGO Movie.
Why go?
They can use their favourite LEGO characters and sets, come up with a fun storyline and use stop-motion techniques to produce a short animation film. It will transform the way they play at home and offer endless hours of creativity for the rest of the holidays.
Ages: 7-12
6. Code a game
What is it?
Kids can design their own arcade-style video games (like Super Mario Bros), jam-packed with cool characters like zombies and unicorns, and awesome gaming features such as invisibility cloaks and shrinking potions. They’ll learn drag and drop code and logic to connect all the design elements together and bring their games to life!
Why go?
Kids are spending countless hours on Roblox and Minecraft these days. Get them to spark their creative side instead, by producing their own original games, using a combination of creative level design, storytelling and problem-solving to bring their creations to life. It’s so much fun, they won’t realise they are actually learning some very important coding and tech skills for their future.
Ages: 7-12
7. Develop a Website
What is it?
For kids with some proficiency in coding, they’ll create their own website from scratch about an animal, movie, sporting team or their favourite topic.
Why go?
With 1.93 billion websites on the world wide web, developers are in higher demand than ever before. It’s a great head start to gain fundamental web building skills and your kids will have so much fun in the process.