Shaun the Sheep Game Academy in Scratch

Hey you! Yeah you! Do you like computer games? They're awesome aren't they? They let your explore strange worlds, become cool characters with mind blowing powers and take on quests you can only dream of. But wouldn't it be amazing to design your own quests, and create your own worlds?

Well the Nominet Trust and Aardman Animations have released a huge pile of characters, places and props from the Shaun the Sheep universe into the Scratch coding platform. They're looking for people to make an amazing computer game and there are prizes to be won.

I know it sounds intimidating making a whole game but on the website there are tutorials and help guides to assist you in making your game. Also there is a Resources page that will let you continue your coding skills.

This is a brilliant opportunity to get your pupils and children excited about coding and by including such a beloved character, it will make Scratch more appealing than ever. Click on the link below and make a game now!

Build Your Own Handheld Console

I want to share an amazing website which has a wide variety of projects. One of the ones that intrigues me was the one to build a handheld console, which is fully programmable in Arduino. 

According to the website at technologywillsaveusall.org;

With the DIY Gamer Kit you will build your own handheld games console then learn how to program your own video games using Arduino and our custom software library.

The DIY Gamer kit is a great-looking, well-engineered object that would most importantly inspire people to learn. It has the classic gaming controls you would expect but has the bonus added features of a buzzer to allow you to add music to your projects and wireless infrared links to allow you to link up with other Gamers for multiplayer gaming. Yes that right you can battle your friends and enemies.

From a programming perspective we wanted to make is as accessible as possible so we created a custom software library to help people use the Gamer’s most common features and get people programming straight away. They can literally plug in, code and create from a very low entry level and slowly build up to higher levels of learning and exploration.

Sounds like a great project for those of you who like getting your hands dirty... 

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