Ever considered there might be a connection between kittens and coding? Of course not, because there wasn’t one… until now!
Erase All Kittens (E.A.K.) is a new web-based platform game designed to prepare children aged eight upwards for 21st Century degrees and careers. It teaches students computational thinking and professional coding languages such as HTML, and engages more girls by using a highly gamified, story-driven approach.
Children learn languages quickly and easily, so why not teach them the real language of technology? – Dee Saigal, CEO and creative director at Drum Roll HQ
Dee Saigal, CEO and creative director at Drum Roll HQ comments: “Our goal with E.A.K. is to show children how to build their own websites and apps, and to continue inspiring girls around the world to code in a fun and simple way. We’re essentially bridging the gap between learning the concepts of coding and learning how to code in the same way a developer does; children learn languages quickly and easily, so why not teach them the real language of technology?
“So far, we’ve made an hour’s gameplay which through word-of-mouth alone has more than 100,000 players around the world, almost half of whom are girls. We developed a pilot version of the game and trialled it with a number of schools – nine out of ten players wanted to learn more about coding after playing, which makes us very excited about the response from other schools going forward!”
Liz Hankin, educational ICT consultant at Oasis Community Learning adds: “During the last two years of the National Computing Curriculum I have seen a significant change in attitude towards the dreaded word ‘coding’. One aspect of this change highlighted the real need for those young people who have the aptitude for working out solutions for themselves to be challenged in an engaging and creative manner. A lot of the tools available to schools use prescribed and pre-authored programs so that any student will eventually find the solution, but step into the ‘Erase all Kittens’ world and things change. Every user enters into a world where they create their own solution, guided through the technical issues with a carefully constructed dialogue. I would recommend to anyone who wants to make their youngsters great problem solvers and coders to save as many kittens as possible!
E.A.K. provides around 60 mins of gameplay, with new content added regularly. For schools, the game is on offer at £2 per student, per year, which includes lesson plans.
