Come Join Us! It's Free!

Join us on October 20th for a fun event that will mix kids, technology and fun! A bunch of awesome youth-serving organizations are getting together to show kids how much is possible when you become a creator - and not just a consumer - of technology and the web. Want to build a website? Make a video? Build a game? Design an app? All of that and more will be possible on October 20th!

Bummed that you’re a parent and not a kid? Don’t worry - Digifest is designed to be a fun event for the whole family!

Check out the full schedule for Digifest online at http://torontodigifest.ca.

Event Details:

Who should come: Most activities are designed for kids between the ages of 8 and 14, but the event is really meant to be fun for the whole family! Bring older and younger siblings along.
Date: Saturday, October 20th, 2012
Time: 1 pm - 4:30 pm
Location: Corus Quay (25 Dockside Drive)
What to bring: A laptop! If you don't have one or can't borrow one, please click here to request one and we will do our best to get you set up with one for the day!

What Will My Kid Do at the Event?

This event is meant to be a semi-unstructured, collaborative, creativity-inpsiring experience for youth. There is no strict agenda, because we think just a touch of chaos is good for learning. There will be several activity stations set up around the Corus Quay Performance Studio. When kids arrive, they'll be free to choose where they spend their time. This gives them the opportunity to work on the projects that they personally find interesting. Some kids will float around, spending time at many stations and working on many different things, while some kids will choose to spend the majority of their time working on one project. We welcome this sort of self-directed learning.

Each station will have volunteer instructors and assistants - there to teach the kids how to use the tools, and then to support them as they think creatively and explore the power of technology. More details to come.

About the Stations:

Web Page Maker presented by Mozilla Thimble:

Ever wanted to create a web page? Then you'll want to spend some time at the Mozilla Web Page Maker station on June 23rd. At this station, kids will be able to create their own web pages fast.  Whether you want to start from scratch, update a web page that looks like it's from the 90s, make your own meme or just play around with Hackasaurus, this will be the station where you turn your ideas for the web into reality.

 

Rockets! presented by Maker Kids and the Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration, Western University:

Do-it-yourself projects built by imagination.

Build an air rocket from scratch! We provide the materials, you provide the inspiration. Experiment with the design and the destination for your interplanetary mission and then launch it!

 

Documentation Station presented by the Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada:

Help us to create a online record of the day, throughout the day.  Using digital media equipment and popular online services like YouTube, Twitter and Tumblr, kids will learn about building online presences, how websites exchange information with each other, and how basic techniques like tagging help build a shareable and collaborative web.

Lights, Camera, Action! Presented by TIFF:

At this station, participants will learn some filmmaking basics, and get hands on-in capturing the shots themselves.  Led by filmmaker Nicole Dorsey and the TIFF Learning team.

 Creating Games with Scratch presented by Gamercamp Jr:

At this station, kids will learn to create a game using Scratch - a programming language with a super kid-friendly interface. Start by recreating the game Fish! and then let your creativity take you from there. Sound tricky? It can be - but it can also be really easy. Let the awesome volunteers as this station be your guide!

Paper Prototyping presented by Gallery 1313:

This station will foster the start-up phase of any project a child wishes to create.  Paper, markers, stencils and other craft materials - that's what you'll use at this station to bring your ideas to life! Whether you want to create an app, design a game, make plans for a video, or something else entirely, the storyboard or artistic map created here will provide framework for turning the most creative ideas into reality! 

Ping Pong Across Platforms presented by CareerMash and Girls Learning Code:

Ever wonder how your favourite games and websites look the same across all internet browsers and devices? Find out how by customizing a ping-pong game's paddle and ball colour, difficulty level, background colour and more! Participants can play with the finished product on Blackberry Playbooks, their laptops, and will receive a unique URL which will be playable on anything!