CS Ed Week is on December 4-10, 2023 and our team has been busy thoughtfully creating fun and engaging activities that all classrooms can easily enjoy. 

We look forward CS Ed Week as it provides a prime opportunity to introduce students of all backgrounds to the wonderful world of computer science (CS). Coding is for everyone and teaching CS in schools ensures that coding is accessible to all, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or background.

We have three free activities prepared that can be enjoyed by a variety of grade levels. To get access to these activities go to our CS ED Week landing page. After you fill out your name and email you will receive special access to our Magic Trick webpage, detailed instructions, talk tracks, video tutorials, and engaging printables for each activity. These resources will help educators feel confident and comfortable introducing these CS concepts into their classrooms no matter how familiar they are with coding.

Magic Trick: Teaching Coding Basics

Skill Struck’s Magic Trick: Teaching Coding Basics is a fun activity teachers and students can participate in to learn a new computer science principle. 

We discovered this stellar activity from our Partner Mike Afdahl, who taught computer science to 3rd graders struggling with Math. Afdahl wanted to know if learning CS could improve math scores and found it did after a year of study!  This activity was one of the first CS principles he taught his class.

Once you sign up, you will have access to a webpage that displays “magic” cards and instructions on how to perform a magic trick for your students. Your students will be shocked at your ability to pick which random card they chose through the common coding tactic, debugging.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Unplugged Activity

You will receive access to PB&J cut outs and instructions on how to do this fun “build your own peanut butter and jelly sandwich” activity. Your students will enjoy this hands-on activity and learn about two common coding principles, sequencing and algorithms.

Encoding Messages using Binary

You will receive access to detailed instructions on how to create encoded messages using binary, the basic principles of how coding was developed.

Simple CS Ed Week Activities

These three CS Ed Week activities are simple and easy to integrate into your classroom. We purposefully selected activities that did not require the use of tablets and could be done with materials we provided for you or simple materials that can be found in any classroom. 

If you are looking for non intimidating and easy-to-implement activities that will be fun and engaging for your students during CS Ed week sign up for access to Skill Struck’s activities here. Happy CS Ed Week and thanks for celebrating with us!