Makers · ages 9–11 · Grades 4–6
Teach a computer something.
Makers is where nine-to-eleven-year-olds go from playing games to making them, and then teach a computer to see, hear and react inside the games they built. They train real machine-learning models on their own gestures and sounds, and learn why a model gets things wrong.
- Ages
- 9–11 · Grades 4–6
- Session
- 90 minutes, once a week
- Group
- 8 to 10 children, two adults in every room
- Balance
- About 70% coding, 30% AI
- Term
- Ten weeks is one level. Three levels in the band.
Makers
What your child will learn
- Real programming concepts in Scratch: events, loops, conditions, variables, clones and messages.
- How a computer learns from examples: training data, testing, accuracy, and why more diverse examples make it fairer.
- How images and sounds become data a computer can use.
- To spot bias, write an honest model card about what their AI can and can't do, and play detective with altered images.
- Level 2, physical computing with sensors and on-device gesture recognition. Level 3, a design project of their own plus a first bridge into Python.
What they will make
- A complete arcade game with score, lives, enemies and levels, published to the class studio.
- A machine-learning model trained on their own gestures that controls that game.
- A voice- or sound-controlled character.
- Level 2, a smart-pet or smart-room prototype with real sensors. Level 3, an invention that solves a real problem, user-tested and demoed.
An arcade game you control with a gesture
How it runs
- 90-minute sessions, once a week, in a 10-week term. One level per term, three levels.
- Groups of 8–10 with two adults, one laptop per child, and instruction never longer than 15 minutes at a time.
- Ends with the Makers Fair: an arcade where parents play the games and children explain the AI behind them.
Who it is for: Level 1 assumes no coding experience and reads fluently in English. Confident ScratchJr graduates can place into Level 2.
Levels are terms
The three levels
One level is one 10-week term. Children move up by readiness, not just by birthday.
Level 1
Game Makers + First AI
Scratch fundamentals through an arcade game, then a model the child trained that controls it.
They make: A published arcade game with an AI-controlled element, a model card and a trailer, shown at the Makers Fair.
Level 2
Smart Machines
Physical computing with sensors, on-device gesture recognition, and prototypes that sense and react.
They make: A physical and digital prototype that senses and reacts, with a 'how it decides' explanation.
Level 3
AI Inventors + Python Bridge
A real design project from problem to user-tested prototype, and a four-week bridge into text-based Python.
They make: A user-tested prototype with poster and demo video, plus a first Python program the child can explain line by line.
Safe by design
Safety and AI use
- Children never use public AI chat tools. Any generative AI is demonstrated by the instructor on the big screen.
- Models are trained on gestures, objects and sounds, never on children's faces.
- Scratch accounts are created and managed by the academy's teacher account, with no child emails.
What comes home
- 01
A weekly 60-second clip and a dinner-table question, and a project rubric at each milestone.
- 02
The child's game link, playable at home, and their model card.
- 03
The term badge, skills map and AI Passport stamps.
Every term
Ends with the Makers Fair
An arcade where parents play the games and children explain the AI behind them.
Holiday camps
Holiday camp
AI Game Jam
A playable game by Monday afternoon, a model trained on their own gestures by Wednesday, and a public arcade on Friday where parents play and children explain the AI.
Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 14:00 · Dates coming soon
Questions about Makers
Does my child need a laptop?
No. There is one academy laptop per child in Makers.
Join the founding families
We are opening our first cohorts in Dubai. Join the waitlist and we will message you first about free Open Build sessions and term dates.
Dates coming soon · Dubai, UAE