[Bf-education] Blender for kids

Thu Aug 13 05:43:11 CEST 2015

Hi  all,
> 
> I think that if you explain date types well, then it is easy for them.
> Explaining that you have objects and things that you can do with these objects is the first step.
> Then give concrete examples. No need to get into the technical details. Whole numbers VS number with point in them is good enough.Or lists and dictionary are also easy when explained in simple terms. Of course the age of the kids makes a huge difference.
> 

I agree. Most Python courses are explaining datatypes in the first place. But kids are interested in constructing and discovering new worlds. So starting with many datatype specific code, inclusive a print(„hello world“) is in my opinion the wrong way to go for kids. Therefore  in our course material you will find the Python and datatype specific parts at the end. By the way most python tutorials are for Python 2.x and we need Python 3.x in Blender. More important (Blender is perfect for this task) is to explain what is an object and how can I create and manipulate objects.  It depends on the age where to start. It would be possible to deliver a prepared set of objects, so construction new objects is the goal. Have a look at the molecule example[1] or you can focus on programming from the beginning [2,3], as you can see in this example there is no basic Python datatype involved, there are only objects, loops and functions (ok lists are involved, but you don’t have to explain it with all corner cases in the first place). In one course an 10 years old boy played with the checker (Halma-Figur) and moved the sphere to the other end of the cone and surprise after an rotation a new object was created, an ice cream with a scoop! I was surprised because I was fixated on the Halma figure. It was fun. And thats the main goal of every beginner tutorial, fun, freedom in constructing and manipulating of objects.
The next step is the  animation of objects, but in my opinion, this task is not possible in two days (thats the usual length of a course), because it is difficult for a beginner and you need more time for this task. But again my focus is teaching python with fun and print is not fun! Blender is fun :-)

Just my two cents.

Peter

[1] http://pymove3d-en.sudile.com/stations/school/ca_chemistry/ca_chemistry_molecules.html
[2] http://pymove3d-en.sudile.com/stations/blender-basics/d_composed_pices/da_simple_pice.html <http://pymove3d-en.sudile.com/stations/blender-basics/d_composed_pices/da_simple_pice.html>
[3] http://pymove3d-en.sudile.com/stations/blender-basics/d_composed_pices/dc_complex_pice.html
> 
> On Wed, Aug 12, 2015 at 9:40 PM, Monique <m.dewanchand at atmind.nl <mailto:m.dewanchand at atmind.nl>> wrote:
> Hello Peter,
> 
> Thank you for sharing. 
> When it comes to python, personally I wouldn't start with explaining data types. I've seen some kids struggle with this. 
> 
> What is your experience?
> 
> Rgds,
> Monique
> 
> Op 11/08/15 om 22:02 schreef Peter Koppatz:
>> Hi Monique,
>>> 
>>> Past months I've been asked to give Blender workshops to kids between 8 
>>> and 16 years old. I searched for Blender teaching material but couldn't 
>>> find much. I decided to use some simple models from Blendswap and hide 
>>> the majority of buttons in the UI. Surprisingly this worked better than 
>>> expected.
>>> The kids were very enthusiastic and could perform the tasks pretty well. 
>>> At the end I was asked how kids could continu learning Blender.
>>> 
>>> This motivated me to start an open website/platform in NL to teach kids 
>>> more on technology, especially Blender & Python. But what is a good 
>>> format for teaching Blender to kids?
>>> Can we teach Blender to kids in a same manner as kids are thaught math 
>>> or grammar?
>>> Are there tutorials or program lessons available for kids?
>>> Is anyone working on this and willing to cooperate?
>> 
>> The „Python Software Verband (PySV)" started in 2013 a programming contest for kids in Germany[1]. I have written a collection of tutorials to teach and prepare interested kids. The focus is programming with Python! There was always a great interest in using and translating the existing german version. So I started to reorganize the course material and switched to use the english version as a master. Now other people can translate the english version to other languages. The course material is available at bitbucket[2], and Transifex[3] is used for translations. The prototype of the new multilingual version is available at http:// <>pymove3d.sudile.com <http://pymove3d.sudile.com/>.
>> The new structure and the translation is a work in progress, and a little bit a mess, because my english is very poor. Nevertheless you could either help to finish and develop the existing material or improve the english version or use parts of the course material as you like. There are also some open problems due to the course material in different languages. I have some ideas but not a real solution e. g.  for short videos and screenshots (with text added on the images). SVG could be a solution. Suggestions and help is always appreciated.
>> 
>> If you have further questions, ask me.
>> 
>> Kind regards,
>> 
>> Peter
>> 
>> [1] http://pymove3d.pysv.org/ <http://pymove3d.pysv.org/> (German only)
>> [2] https://bitbucket.org/pkoppatz/pymove3d-en <https://bitbucket.org/pkoppatz/pymove3d-en>
>> [3] https://www.transifex.com/pysv/ <https://www.transifex.com/pysv/>
>> 
>>> 
>>> Kind regards,
>>> Monique Dewanchand
>>> At Mind
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> Bf-education at blender.org <mailto:Bf-education at blender.org>
>>> http://lists.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-education <http://lists.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-education>
>> 
> 
> 
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> 
> 
> -- 
> Douglas E Knapp, MSAOM, LAc.
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