Blog - Roboto Coding Academy

5 Benefits of Participating in Kids Hackathon

kids participating in a hackathon singapore

Young kids and teenagers often consider engineering and scientific careers to be difficult, but there are also some who find computer science to be interesting and enjoyable. Many kids who play video games want to learn more about the technology behind them, and the internet gives them easy access to everything they need.

When kids learn the basics of software and hardware engineering, it becomes important to inform them that such a hobby is a good choice that could lead to a career. Children should be taught all the necessary skills, including teamwork, and also be able to apply their knowledge to real-life problems, recognizing the actual challenges of the industry and being able to create their own creative solutions. Although it's impossible to teach these things to your kids at home, a kids' hackathon can help them learn more and prepare for more challenging work. Read on to learn more about what your kids can reap from signing them up for a coding competition or workshop for kids!

1. Encourages kids to create new ideas and concepts

Hackathons allow children to learn problem-solving skills and become familiar with the environment developers work in. Meeting other kids who work in other fields can help them train existing skills and learn something new. What is most important is that they can collaborate and come up with creative solutions that result in actual success.

2. Kids learn to network

working together coding holiday program

Hackathons bring together people with similar talents and interests. Coding workshops and competitions for kids offer them the opportunity to master networking skills. Invite your child to exchange contacts with other participants so that they can keep in touch and continue to collaborate in the future.

3. Kids learn about product development

Hackathons are about more than writing your own code or coming up with an innovative idea. In a coding holiday program, kids are given the opportunity to create an actual solution to a real-life problem. The prototyping process allows them to experience creating a real product.

4. Learn the demands of the market

Developing a solution alone isn't enough. By participating in hackathons, your kids are taught that their solutions should match market demand. As a result, they can appreciate how important it is for their ideas to be interesting not just to them, but also to potential consumers and investors. During the coding holiday program at Roboto, they will learn to come up with solutions people will pay for, focus on relevant issues, and understand the marketplace from a technological perspective.

Occasionally, tech-related companies create hackathons for kids, but if you can't find such events near you, your gifted teenager can still participate in regular hackathons. For instance, the OpenCode Foundation organised a virtual hackathon that allowed anyone to participate for free.

5. Enables your kids to participate in Direct School Admission (DSA)

The Direct School Admission - Secondary (DSA-Sec) Exercise allows students to apply for a secondary school based on their talents and achievements. There are many schools that offer DSA through Coding/Infocomms, which falls under Applied Science, Engineering and Technology. These include Dunman High School, River Valley High School, ACS (I) and SCGS.

By signing your child up for our coding workshop, they can begin their coding journey, developing confidence and enhancing their skill set to participate in DSA. Roboto's coaches will assist your child in getting into their secondary school of choice with personalised guidance. Here’s how we can help your kids prepare for DSA:

1. Improve robotics and coding skillsets

2. Build up your portfolio by creating your own projects

3. Join and participate in competitions

4. Prepare for DSA interview and selection test

Encourage Your Child To Participate In Hackathons

Considering how important technology is for our everyday lives, it's not surprising kids are interested in engineering and computer science. Children today have everything they need to learn to code: they can take free online courses and use coding programs that are designed specifically for them. By learning robotics and artificial intelligence, they can create their own solutions, as well as get a jumpstart on their future engineering career.

The problem is that many things cannot be learned at home: teamwork, product development, market trends, etc. Hackathons give kids the opportunity to put their skills to the test, and to gain their first experience working with a team and solving real-life problems. Sign up for a free trial today if you want to encourage your kids to learn to code!