Field trippin' through the alphabet: A is for Apple Store

I'm excited to share our first field trip in this blogging through the alphabet series! The Letter A will actually be for Apple. The Apple store that is. As I was thinking about places we could go for a field trip that started with A it occured to me that the Apple store would be a cool place to visit if it offered anything educational for kids. A tour, or something. They do offer tours for school groups, but I found something even better. A coding class for my boys.  I also found a lot of other educational classes and labs for adults, kids, and families that they offer right in their stores! These classes/sessions all involve use of Apple products, techniques, and technology, so it's a fun way to try it all out.

The entrance to the Apple Store in Washington Square Mall

While we waited for the class to start there were plenty of ipads and idevices to explore.

Alex trying out a new game on an ipad set up for kids

It's fun to try all of them while we wait.

We arrived nice and early so there was plenty of time to get settled and watch people all around the store. If you've never been to an Apple store it's bustling and full of people. It's a fun upbeat place to visit. Nice and bright. We easily found the table where the class was going to happen. The one with the nice big TV that says "Coding for Kids." The class was small, only 5 kids, which was great for getting a lot of help.

These boys were pretty excited. Ready to get going. The lab would start soon!

They provided each kid with an iPad and a Sphero Bolt robot  to use for the duration of the class, if they needed it. Two of the kids that were in the class brought their own devices and robots that they hadn't learned how to use yet. It was a great way for them to get to know their new toys.

The lab will be starting soon! The robots and the iPads and the instructor finally came out!

Watching the instructor get set up. He was able to project the screen on his ipad so all the kids could see. Technology is just fascinating.

The first challenge was getting all the robots and iPads linked up. It went pretty fast, and the instructor was so great and patient.

The next task was making an image that is unique to each kid and their Sphero.

Alex making his flag design. This will be the design that shows in the lights inside his robot.

The next challenge was learning how to make the robot go forward and back. These Sphero robots move pretty neat by just rolling.

When it was time to make the robot go and start their code the rule was that they had to move to the floor so they wouldn't roll off the table. It was finally time to try it out...

After the kids mastered getting it to move forward and back, and then in a full square they finally got to try getting the robot to go through obstacles. This was a lot of fun. All of the kids really had to think about how to best get their robot through and over obstacles.

It took a lot of thought and trial and error to figure this obstacle out, but Alex did it! Watch the video below to see it in action.

The boys had a great time, and they learned a lot while having fun. Check out an Apple Store near you to see if they have any fun labs or classes for kids. I don't know if they offer the same ones everywhere, but there are a lot of other ones to choose from.

That about wraps up our Letter A field trip. I am linking this up to abc blogging through the alphabet.