The Best Educational Things You Could Do Right Now.

7 min readDec 8, 2020

At Kano we’ve been asked by parents and teachers for any help we can give during this period of school closures, and self-isolating.

The good news is we’ve opened up a ton of activities and projects, ready for you to learn, and play for free. And they will all stay open until we’re all back to school.

It’s all online. So you can connect, collaborate, and get creative with people all over the world, who are also stuck at home.

Once you’ve learned some basic coding concepts with our challenges and simple steps, there is endless creative fun to be had. Anyone can make it!

1. Kano Club is now open for everyone

We’ve unlocked some of our exclusive club projects, tools, and videos for you, to make being stuck at home more fun. There will also be new challenges and videos every two weeks. All the projects are self-led so you can get on with managing work, home, meals, toilet paper allowance, and all the other amazing things you do.

You can find all our club projects here: world.kano.me Scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the Kano Club challenges.

https://world.kano.me/challenges

2. Draw with friends on Artopia

On Kano Club you get free access to Artopia — our new collaborative drawing tool. Draw live with friends (who are also stuck in their own homes) over the internet. Use the password kano-club to enter, and get drawing.
https://beta.artopia.app/?accesskey=kano-club

https://beta.artopia.app/?accesskey=kano-club

3. At Home Learning Pack

We’ve got 8 lessons from our Creative Curriculum for free and brought them together in a simple PDF pack. It is aligned to UK and US educational standards, and there are worksheets, lesson structures, answer sheets, and paper towers.

Download the PDF here >

Instead of using a Kano PC, you can do all of it online using the links art.kano.me and world.kano.me to access Make Art and Kano Code.

4. Make Art coding challenges

Start simple, follow the steps, code a sun, a flag, a funny face. Work up to making complex geometric patterns. You can also remix any challenge to give it your own twist. https://art.kano.me/challenges

You can also draw whatever you like in the playground at https://art.kano.me/playground

5. Kano Code challenges

Learn to make animations, paintbrushes, games, and patterns. Follow the simple steps, and remix any challenge to make something new. Learn about loops, variables, logic, and more. https://world.kano.me/challenges

Or start with a blank canvas at https://world.kano.me/editor

https://world.kano.me/profile/creations/touch-paint

6. Kano Code blocks explained

A simple document that explains all of the code blocks in Kano Code. Tricky things like variables, loops, and logic. So you can go on and make even more with https://world.kano.me/editor

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bFsvB0Mphz85oV14ur5O2gr94XoD4cSBUfEaFZN0KCU/edit

7. Our Personal Development Series in now free

There are a series of 37 free online videos that take you through workshops, critical thinking, coding, and other interesting concepts like Machine Learning.

Watch them all here https://kano.me/us/education/other-resources

8. Free Harry Potter challenges

Make magic with Harry Potter, fantastic beasts, and your mouse. No wand needed. (There are also some more free Harry Potter projects at the bottom of this article)

Go here for the challenges: https://hoc-2018.kano.me/challenges/home

9. Make Pong challenges

Make your own versions of Pong — giant super-fast balls, multi-colored backgrounds, fireballs, tiny paddles, all with simple code blocks.

http://pong.kano.me

10. Kano World Staff Picks

There are thousands of creations on Kano World. https://world.kano.me/explore Share, collaborate, make, and play with people all around the world, who are also stuck at home.

Because you can play with everyone’s code, as a teacher/parent, you can use any creation as part of your own class project. See how people have made interesting creations about perspective, space, coordinates, geometry, patterns, or bowls of pasta.

Check out Staff Picks for some of the best. Then simply click on the Remix button to open up the code. You can play with the code, then share your own version of that creation with the community. There’s endless fun, loads to learn, and creative mischief to be had.

11. Code your own flag

Why not try creating the flag of any country you love. Or why not create your own family flag, ready to print out and hang up.

12. Play with your computer’s microphone

Now that we’re all in close quarters, with little room to escape, why not play with the microphone part in Kano Code. So much fun can be had from controlling objects with sound, clapping, or your voice. For instance, you can make animals bounce, or trains move faster by shouting.

13. Coding Competitions

Why not hold your own coding competitions, using these tools:
https://world.kano.me/editor
https://art.kano.me/playground

Here are some ideas to get you started. Set a time limit and judge the winning piece of art, animation, or game by how creative it is.

Code the view out of your window
Code your breakfast
Code your own Nasa patch
Code your own dinosaur
Code the Corona Virus
Code your own cartoon character
Code a historic moment
Code your hero
Code your own game
Code evolution

https://world.kano.me/creations/u/pusheenCOOKIE2/creations/breakfast-yummy

14. Make some music

There are a ton of creations made by users around the world. Drum machines, music-controlled by oscillators, synths you draw, emoji instruments. Open them up, then play with the code. See how they work, and try to make your own musical masterpiece.

15. Remix some art

There is a ton of art made by people all around the world. Why not have a play with them?

https://world.kano.me/profile/creations/thumbprint_1019083

16. Remix some games

There are a few games made by the Kano community. Why not try tweaking the code to make your own game. Then play it with your family at home.

https://world.kano.me/profile/creations/emoji-tennis_1019050

17. Code your own pixel character

It’s loads of fun making your own pixel characters. Why not try drawing out your pixel character on graph paper, then code them in Make Art using colored squares.

Here are some characters we drew for inspiration:

And here’s some pixel art other people have made. Check out their code from the links below the images.

https://world.kano.me/profile/creations/pixel-tie-fighter

https://world.kano.me/profile/creations/pixel-batman

18. Got Terminal?

Here is a video playlist of some things you could do with Terminal on your computer. You don’t have to own a Kano Computer Kit, you should be able to do these on any computer with the Terminal app.

19. More Harry Potter Coding Kit projects

Here are some extra projects you could try out for the Harry Potter Coding Kit. If you don’t have one, nevermind, download the app here: https://kano.me/app and use your mouse instead of a wand.