Term-Time 2D Games Design 4 Kids (age 11-14)

To book this course, select your options from the “Book Course” section on this page and then click on “Add to Basket”.  You can also add other courses (on other pages) to the basket. Once you are happy with the courses you have selected, click “View Basket” to complete your booking.

 

Course Information

The 2D Games Design 4 Kids course introduces kids to designing and coding 2D video games for computers, mobile devices, and the web.

Using the Stencyl tool and it’s built-in visual programming language, users drag and drop code from a palette of “code blocks”, snapping them in place and nesting within each other, enabling the creation of advanced logic from basic components. This course is a next step in progression after completing our “Coding 4 Kids” course.

This course is recommended for children aged 11-14 who have extensive experience with block languages (such as Scratch) and want to branch into creating games for web, mobile and desktop using professional-level tools.

 

Autumn Term 2024

THURSDAY SESSIONS

Thursday sessions start on Thursday 19th September and will run until Thursday 5th December 2024 (inclusive).

Classes run 6pm-6:55pm, and are accessed online through Microsoft Teams.

Please note that there will be no coding sessions on Thursday 24th October and Thursday 31st October, due to October half-term.

SATURDAY SESSIONS

Saturday sessions start on Saturday 21st September and will run until Saturday 7th December 2024 (inclusive).

Classes run 12pm-12:55pm, and are accessed online through Microsoft Teams.

Please note that there will be no coding sessions on Saturday 26th October and Saturday 2nd November, due to October half-term.

All times shown are UK times – please convert to your local time to ensure the online classes work for you.

Please contact us if you have any questions.

Session Structure

With a tutor-to-child ratio of 1:6, attendees complete their coding challenges in their own time, and at their own pace – and always with a tutor on hand to provide support. Sessions for each course are held weekly, on the day and time chosen at the time of course registration.

 

Taster Sessions

We offer Taster Sessions for any child wishing to experience our courses before committing to attend for the rest of the term.

During the Taster Session, we will evaluate the child’s ability with a view to making a recommendation regarding which course they might want to consider. Of course, if the child (or parent) has their own views on what course they want to attend, we will do our best to accommodate or suggest a path towards being able to eventually take the preferred course.

• Further information about our In-Person Taster Sessions can be found here: Book an In-Person Taster Session
• If you wish to register for a Taster Session for one of our Online courses, please get in touch with your preferred course, date and time.

Starting After The Term Has Begun

With Spark4Kids, there is no such thing as a late start – your child can start with us any week during the term and they will not miss out on any course material (they start working on their coding challenges from the beginning of the syllabus).

The earlier you book your child on a course though, the more likely you are to obtain a space.

 

Safeguarding Policy

All of our tutors are DBS-checked, and our website as well as virtual LIVE! classrooms have high levels of security built-in, using standard security protocols to secure yours and our data.

All sessions are also monitored continuously, and our tutors will not tolerate bullying, bad language or inappropriate questions, conversations or content.

Follow this link to access our Safeguarding Policy.

 

Further Information

 

Attending a Course Multiple Times

You can re-book your child onto the same Spark4Kids course multiple times if they wish to continue working through the course material. We are constantly updating our courses and there are always new coding challenges to tackle. We are also able to tailor coding challenges to suit your child if they have a clear idea as to what they would like to work on (kindly email us about this prior to the course starting).

Discounts for Siblings, Friends and Multiple Bookings

We offer discounts on bookings that feature multiple course registrations, whether they be for the same or different children. A discount of 10% is automatically applied to every subsequent course at Checkout.

Please be aware that to receive discounts all courses must feature together in the same shopping basket and be paid for at the same time. They do not apply if sessions for siblings or other multiple sessions are booked and paid for in separate transactions.

New! Group Discounts

We now support group bookings where you get a Spark4Kids Group Discount applied when you book as a group of two or more. We have always automatically applied discounts to orders for multiple course bookings for siblings – now we are extending this discount to general group bookings.

If your child has friends who share their interest in computer coding, games design or touch-typing, speak to the other parents to see if they are interested in a Group Discount, and then use our brand new Group Discounts page to invite them to book.

Paying by Instalments

Spark4Kids accepts payment by instalments on some of our courses, provided that the booking is placed over a month before the course start date.

To pay for a course by instalments, kindly select the course you want, add to basket, and then proceed to Checkout by clicking “View Basket” (you may need access to your email account). At Checkout, choose “Pay by Instalments” as the payment option, and follow the on-screen prompts to complete your booking.

Childcare Vouchers

Spark4Kids accepts childcare vouchers as fee payment towards all of our courses from a variety of childcare voucher providers.

A full list is available here: Spark4Kids Childcare Providers

To pay for a course using childcare vouchers, select the course you want, add to basket, and then proceed to Checkout by clicking “View Basket” (you may need access to your email account). When at Checkout, choose “Pay with Childcare Vouchers” as the payment option, and follow the on-screen prompts to complete your booking (you will soon be emailed the voucher payment details for Spark4Kids in order to complete the payment.

We can also accept a fee payment that is split between a childcare voucher payment and a standard debit/credit card payment (e.g. if your remaining childcare voucher balance isn’t enough to cover the course fee). To do this, kindly get in touch using the contact details listed in the footer of this page.

Stencyl System Requirements

The system requirements below only apply if your child is attending the online, remotely accessible version of this course.

Icons courtesy of Icon8

• Hardware: Desktop or laptop computer, microphone and speakers (or headset with mic), mouse and keyboard, a fast internet connection.
• Operating System: Windows 7 or above, Macs (OS X 10.14 Mojave or above) and Linux (Ubuntu 12.04 LTS or later/ Debian Jessie or later/or libc6 2.15 or later)
• License: Free
• Memory: 1GB
• Disk Space: 390MB

To find out what your computers’ technical specifications are, kindly use the links below:

• Microsoft Windows
• Apple Mac
• Google Chromebook

Our online classroom software requires minimum internet speeds of 5 Mbps for upload and 15 Mbps for download. The vast majority of broadband providers’ packages will exceed these speeds. To test the speed of your broadband click the link below:

Check My Speed