Magic is amazing. Magicians have a special power that gathers families around the world to see the next surprising and breathtaking trick they are going to do. We have all heard about David Copperfield, Houdini, and Shin Lim. But what do all magicians have in common and how are these factors related to the worlds of coding and technology?
If we look for a definition of “magic”, many things come up. One of the very first ones defines magic as the power of apparently influencing events by using mysterious or supernatural forces. Some other definitions say that magic is way more than just that; defining it as the application of beliefs, rituals or actions employed in the belief that they can subdue or manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces.
And again, how is this supernatural world related to coding, programming, technology and children? Well, in the past many famous programmers who are advocating for the inclusion of more kids in this world have defined programming as some sort of poetry, that is the case of Linda Liukas.
But in this opportunity, we wanted to take this one step further and see what are the things that both magic and coding have in common. Are you ready? Sure? Because we might have a rabbit hidden under the keyboard…
What do coding and magic have in common? Kids will love this!
Very often coding is compared to magic, but why? On one hand, magic can be amazing and astonishing, but it isn’t real (we might open a debate right here!). Coding, on the other hand, can enable kids and young programmers to actually change the world. For real.
When people say that coding is like magic, they mean that young programmers can transform our society, just like magicians when they use spells and incantations. That being said, we want to bring more items to the table in order to make this comparison richer and wider. Let’s go…
Fun factor
If magic isn’t fun, it doesn’t work. Nowadays, magicians are a mix between illusionists and comedians that come to conquer the hearts and eyes of the audience through their surprising tricks. In coding, things are not that different.
Many think that programming is a boring and tedious thing to do, but those people are not aware of how fun can be to learn how to program, especially when starting at a young age and when using colorful learning environments such as Scratch or Blockly.
Coding is fun because whatever you -or your kids- are going to create by programming, must enchant and delight the user, and to do that, programmers must know quite a lot about these potential users; just like magicians must be prepared for their audience.
Can you see where we are going with this?
Surprise factor
The key is to surprise, to come up with someone people truly want to see or have, but they don’t know about anything else available that can do that specific thing. Just like in magic, coding must leave users not only with their mouths wide open, but also very satisfied with the technology, app, video, or game you have just created.
According to recent research, ‘surprise’ works on the dopamine system in our brains, helping us to focus our attention and inspiring us to look at our situation in new ways.
Now, can you see how much you could help by creating a necessary and surprising app or by learning magic to surprise your beloved ones here and there? Let your children learn one of these skills and they might increase your own dopamine levels.
The empathy factor
We mentioned this before: Getting to know your audience and users before creating your magic trick, app, software or game is fundamental in order to succeed. If you don’t know who your audience is, you will never be able to create something appealing for them. Never forget that, on the other side of the screen, there is a human being that will either feel something or feel nothing with whatever creation you present to them… We assume which option you would like to happen.
Actually, learning how to code at a very young age can help kids to care more about others. Why? Because programming increases the empathy levels of their learners.
Want empathetic children? You already know: Teach them magic and coding!
The fantastic factor
You must create something fantastic. In both magic and coding, the ‘wow’ factor is extremely important. When learning how to program in the courses offered by Tekkie Uni, your children will be ongoingly encouraged to find the ‘wow’ factor within them, and by increasing their levels of self-esteem, self-confidence and self-expression, they will be just ready to turn their thoughts and ideas into fantastic realities.
If a magic trick isn’t fantastic, it will be very hard to make the audience happy. The same thing happens with programming and coding. Our creations, as programmers, must be extraordinarily unique… and believe it or not, that is completely doable for your children. Let yourself be surprised by their imagination.
Abracadabra! Coding is just around the corner…
The main focus of Tekkie Uni’s instructors is to empower your children in a safe learning environment so that they can actually believe that anything is possible.
By teaching them from the very beginning that mistakes are nothing more than just valuable learning experiences, the instructors will increase your kids’ self-esteem, self-expression and self-confidence.
Just like with magic, we look at coding from a perspective that goes beyond pure programming and locates it as a way of thinking, a way of doing things. Enable your children to think differently, to become real change agents, and to create extraordinary apps, videos or games that will leave you and your family members with your mouths wide open.
