Learn to Code at Microsoft’s Harry Potter Workshops for Kids!

Beginning in May, Microsoft stores will be offering Harry Potter Kano Coding Kit workshops for children, and we can’t think of a more magical way to have fun and exceed educational expectations for the summer!

According to Romper, Microsoft will offer two camps geared toward varying interest and skill levels. The first workshop is for children ages 6 and up and would appeal to beginning coders. The class is described as an “immersive Harry Potter experience [in which] students use their very own wand to build a coding skills foundation by casting spells to make sparks fly and even feeding Fluffy.”

The other workshop is available for children ages 8 and up. It promises to be a bit more challenging, using the Harry Potter Kano Coding Kit to cast spells and take to the virtual Quidditch pitch for a match.

A press release from Microsoft reportedly announced that the objective of the camps is to “empower students with the skills they need to pursue their current and future passions, from gaming to coding and video game development.”

Registration for the workshops, which run through August, opens April 10. Camp dates and times are specific to local stores and subject to area school schedules, so interested parties should visit the nearest Microsoft location or register online here.

It looks be an exciting opportunity for kids to learn valuable skills through some of the latest technological advancements. The coding kit, which children will be able to use in the free camps (you read that right!), is also available for purchase. At $99.99, it’s an investment, but one that has much to offer.

The product description says that the kit features 70+ Kano apps with creative challenges and games, and Leaky’s review of the coding kit elaborated on the ways the special kit combines coding principles with Harry Potter magic, saying:

“Each challenge teaches you how to use your wand in more immersive and useful ways. The first-of-its-kind wand interacts with the coding environment to make spells more realistic. By combining a motion sensor, rumble effect and LED light on the wand, spells look and feel much more immersive, and Kano teach you how to use code to bring together those special effects all by yourself!”  

A previous press release further expounded on the vision for introducing children to coding. Kano co-founder and CEO Alex Klein said:

“We’re surrounded by technology in our homes, workplaces, and pockets, yet only a small percent of people, less than 1% of 1%, understand the happenings behind the screen…We are thrilled to partner with Warner Bros Consumer Products to inspire people of all ages, all over the world, to make their own code, and see how easy it can be to understand, play, and create with it.”

It’s no wonder, then, that they are starting with those most eager to learn. Undoubtedly, children will come away from these camps ready to charm those they meet with their newfound abilities, and the language of coding will spread from child to child and family to family, igniting a love for learning and for magic in kids of all ages!