You mentioned that many of your library teens are very into video games and sharing what
they’ve done with their friends. Here are some resources that may inspire your library programming with OctoStudio and video games.
Special thanks to Eric Schilling at the LLK OctoStudio team for sharing these resources! Eric is an avid skateboarder and also thinks deeply about great example projects.
Thank you so much, I really appreciate the examples! I am fairly new to coding so having a reference is super helpful. I’ve been going through and recreating/remixing the games myself and these videos have been great to follow! I was also excited to learn that a few of the kids interested in video games have also done some other forms of coding before. I am stoked to have them learn a new coding software and probably teach me a thing or two as well!
I did the Octostudio GAME ON! program on Thursday May 16th, and it had a good turnout! I had 3 adults and 5 kids attend (2 of which were my nephews).
For the setup, I had 3 different gaming instructions printed, the Octostudio reference guide, and crafting supplies. We did not have any compatible devices in our library, but we made do! Some kids brought their own phones or were able to use a staff member’s phone, and it worked out great. A coworker of mine had the idea to bring out our Code & Go robot mouse coding game, and that helped to keep the kids coding during that gap when they took turns on a phone.
As for the craft supplies, it didn’t get used much. They did take pictures, record their own audio, and draw their own characters in the Octostudio app, so I take that as a win! The reference manual was also not so referenced, but I’m still glad I had it on hand.
The three game instructions I printed off were the clicker, jumping, and tilt-eating game. The options weren’t too overwhelming, and I found they had varying levels of difficulty; the clicker being easiest and the tilt-eating game to be more challenging. It was great to see them take inspiration from the games; they would figure out how to make it on their own, remix it, or create something entirely new. I got these games from the Octostudio Youtube channel and the games made by Eric Shilling; both the channel and games are linked in this forum.
My goal was to get the kids creating and learning something new about coding. They were excited to keep using Octostudio once the program ended, so I take that as a good sign they’ll keep creating with code!
The Code & Go Robot Mouse Coding Activity! This was awesome and kept them coding in a game format. It was one of my first times using this activity and I plan to use this as a resource for future programs; the kids really enjoyed this coding game!
@olivia.clayton I’m so delighted the OctoStudio GAME ON! worked out. I remember when this program was just an idea you had. Thank you for sharing your reflections and photos (and about how excited people were about doing this)! I loved how you thought about turn-taking with the phone, and included the Code & Go game for the downtime.
Most of the time the craft supplies do get passed over. (Except in Mallory’s OctoStudio group story-crafting project!) Something to think about!
…and did you make the gaming instruction sheets? I like how you game them structure for this since it can get very complicated. Well done!
It was so much fun! It was great to see how excited the kids were to create and code, and that they plan to do more Octostudio!
I did make the instruction sheets, and I’ll link them here. They really did help in making the kids less overwhelmed by this new app, and gave them a clear outline while still making the games their own!
I’m not sure if these links work as I wasn’t quite sure how to link them off of Google Docs. If anyone is interested and these aren’t available, I can email them to you!
