​​WordPress Workshop for Kids - organiser kit
​​Hello! This is an instruction manual for WordCamp organisers who would like to do a kids workshop during their event. Kids workshops have already been organised around WordCamp Miami, WordCamp Bangkok, WordCamp Belgrade and more will be organized in 2017 in Sofia, Varna, Zagreb and Milano. This organiser kit is prepared for you by Petya Raykovska (@petyeah on twitter, @petya on WP Slack if you need to reach me) and contributed to by everyone who’d like to take part. It’s based on the workshops organized in Bangkok, Belgrade and Sofia. 

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​Why organise a workshop for kids?

  • ​​To train the next generation of WordPress superusers or/and developers
  • ​​To educate young people on the proper ways to use the web
  • ​​Writing for the web
  • ​​Using content from the web
  • ​​Creating quality content and content that matters
  • ​​To have fun exploring how kids approach their own web space and think about creating content
  • ​​To do real time usability testing on the software and then help improve WordPress based on it

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​What you need for the workshop

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​Kids

  • ​​Practice shows that the workshop is most suitable for kids between the age of 9 and 15. However the several workshops we have ran have also included kids at the age of 7 and they did great ​😃​ 
  • ​​The workshops will work best for kids who are somewhat familiar with working online (practically everyone these days) and know how to use a browser
  • ​​Sign up for the workshop should happen through the WordCamp website by setting up a separate workshop ticket (all have been free so far) or a sign up form on the page describing the workshop

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​Volunteers

  • ​​Practice has shown that the best outcome for the kids happens when there is at least one volunteer per 2 kids to help out and guide them through the processes. 
  • ​​Volunteers don’t need to be technical people, but a minimum experience with WordPress is recommended
  • ​​Volunteers don’t need to prepare in advance, but it helps if they go and run through the setup process of WordPress prior to the workshop

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​Location requirements

  • ​​Power
  • ​​Projector and laptop for the presenter
  • ​​Stable internet connection
  • ​​Comfortable places to sit and work - desks or a more informal setup
  • ​​Computer equipment (optional, but sometimes it helps when the space provides laptops for children who don’t have them)
  • ​​Paper/notebooks 
  • ​​Pens/Pencils

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​Swag

  • ​​Swag is not required to host a good workshop, but it helps when kids get rewarded for the work they have done.
  • ​​Stickers make great small rewards, as well as t-shirts, pins or any other visually appealing small objects that you have handy. 
  • ​​Prepare the swag in collaboration with the WordCamp organisers - for example ask them to get you some of the official WordCamp Swag or if you’re planning the workshop with enough head time, maybe order some t-shirts for the kids and ask about sizes in the registration form.
  • ​​The workshop can get better and with better swag if it gets a separate sponsor as well.
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​Content

  • ​​Scenario for the day (see below)
  • ​​Basic knowledge of setting up a site on WordPress 
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​A Hosting Partner

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​​There are several Global sponsors who have offered their hosting to be used for KidsCamps. Each one has a little bit different of a process and timeframe for the free account. 
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​​You will find a list with the hosting options here and should adapt your process based on what decision you make. 
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​Organisers tasks:

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  1. ​​Pitch the workshop to your team - get buy in from your whole team, you’ll need the support of the volunteer team, communication and marketing team and potentially the sponsors team
  1. ​​Find a location 
  1. ​​Stable wifi 
  1. ​​Projector
  1. ​​Suitable for kids to spend two hours in (desks, workstations or a good place to sit are a plus)
  1. ​​Optional equipment (ideally the contributor day location or somewhere close to the camp. If you’re organising it on the day of the WordCamp, the WordCamp venue is the best place)
  1. ​​Create free tickets for the workshop on the WordCamp site (it will allow you to communicate with the attendees via the Notify tool). 
  1. ​​Required form fields:
  1. ​​Name of the child
  1. ​​Name of the parent
  1. ​​Email address of the parent
  1. ​​Parent phone number
  1. ​​Child dietary requirements
  1. ​​A field confirming the parent is ok with the child taking on the course
  1. ​​A field confirming they will inform the team if the child can no longer attend
  1. ​​Number of tickets should be 10% over your capacity, free tickets always mean a higher no show rate
  1. ​​The ticket description should make it clear this is not a ticket for the conference 
  1. ​​Create a page on the website describing the workshop and linking to the tickets
  1. ​​Announce the workshop
  1. ​​Use the Notify tool to send a message about the workshop to all of the people who have currently bought a ticket for your WordCamp and invite them to sign their kids up
  1. ​​Announce the workshop on social channels
  1. ​​Here is a pool of images from previous Kids WordPress workshops you can use to illustrate your content
  1. ​​Get volunteers - Create an internal call for volunteers for the workshop within the existing volunteers team for the WordCamp (volunteers need to be tech savvy WordPress users, no need for technical skills). You need 1 volunteer per every 2 kids you plan on having
  1. ​​Plan swag - Schedule some swag delivery with WordCamp Central - wapuu stickers, WordPress stickers. If you have budgeted for it, plan some unique kids swag for the workshop - local wapuu stickers, notebooks, etc. I asked on Twitter and lovely people from all over the world sent me their leftover wapuu stickers. Gives you the chance to introduce the global nature of WordPress to the kids through our lovely mascot.
  1. ​​Plan food/drinks
  1. ​​Don’t forget to plan lunch/snacks for the kids
  1. ​​Water needs to be available throughout the whole workshop
  1. ​​Additional play time
  1. ​​An Optional additional hour for lunch/snacks/games can also be planned within the schedule
  1. ​​Get additional materials for the day
  1. ​​Presentation on the day agenda - a sample one you can reuse can be found here
  1. ​​Name tags for kids to write their names and for instructors
  1. ​​Pieces of paper and pens 
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​Workshop script

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  1. ​​Introductions - introduction of the instructor and each kid 
  1. ​​Introduce the speaker
  1. ​​Go in a circle and get kids to introduce themselves
  1. ​​Paper game - write your three favourite things to do. Give each kid a piece of paper and ask them to write down:
  1. ​​Their name
  1. ​​Their three favourite things to do
  1. ​​Talk a little bit about WordPress - what it is and what it helps them do. Show some websites built on WordPress. Showing them Wapuu and the different places people use WordPress illustrated with Wapuus is always fun.
  1. ​​Go through the plan of the day (featured in the slides)
  1. ​​Start setting up a new site live on a projector (you can also have a kid do that live with one of the volunteers or have one volunteer pretend they’re a kid and do their own set up)
  1. ​​Follow the steps in the WordPress setup process - have each kid set up their own site with the help of the volunteers. Volunteers should help kids to:
  1. ​​Think of a name for the site based on their list of favourite things and their name
  1. ​​Think of a domain for the site based on the name of their site
  1. ​​Choose a theme for the website
  1. ​​Create a first post
  1. ​​Add text to the post
  1. ​​Add images to the post
  1. ​​Add image title, alt text and description
  1. ​​If there is time, talk a little bit about content 
  1. ​​Add a gallery to the post
  1. ​​Add an embedded video to the post
  1. ​​Create an about page
  1. ​​Lunch / break / games
  1. ​​Additional content - get the kids to create some more posts after the break reminding them to add images, videos and galleries where they can to practice the skills they learned
  1. ​​Show and tell - Before the day is over, dedicate about 25 minutes to a show and tell session
  1. ​​Gather the urls of all the sites the kids created and load them on the presenter computer
  1. ​​Get the kids to get in front of everyone and say what their site is about and show the content they created
  1. ​​Prizes! Swag/badges/stickers should go as prizes for all the kids for a job well done
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​Templates:

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​Introduction to WordPress: Workshop for kids

​​Sample content of the workshop description - modify as you see fit
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  • ​​Instructor: Petya Raykovska, Senior Project manager at Human Made and WordPress Polyglots Global Communication Lead
  • ​​Suitable for: Students ages 10+ with basic internet skills interested in blogging and writing
  • ​​Language: English
  • ​​Duration: 2 hours
  • ​​Capacity: 15-20 kids
  • ​​Bring along: 
  • ​​A laptop or tablet (you can work on a iOS or Android tablet)
  • ​​A notebook and a pen
  • ​​You need to have a registered email address (yours or parents) that you can access during the workshop. If you don’t have one, one will be created for you during the workshop
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​What you will learn

  • ​​How to set up your own personal site
  • ​​How to publish content, text, images, video, galleries
  • ​​How to change the way your site looks like
  • ​​How to extend your site with more functionality
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​Workshop details

​​The workshop’s main goal is to enable each child to create a personal website and learn how to manage its content. All children work with volunteer experts who help them through the initial setup and guide them through creating different types of content which they need to think of themselves. 
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​​The workshop is a good exercise in both creativity, expression in writing and combining skills like writing, completing the text with visual elements, creating image galleries, finding and embedding video content. 
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​​The workshop starts with a short exercise in which each kid needs to create a list of the three things they really like and three activities they really enjoy. They write that down on a piece of paper and take turns introducing themselves to the others and reading their lists of favourite things. 
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​​Each child is then taken through the steps of setting up a site on WordPress with a volunteer displaying the steps on a computer connected to a screen so each child can follow each step. 
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​​At the end, we do a “show and tell” session where each child presents their website and has a couple of minutes to talk about it. Children are encouraged to keep updating their websites after the workshop.

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​Location

  • ​​Insert location
  • ​​Insert start - end time

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​Sign up

  • ​​Tickets link
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​Ticket form fields

  • ​​Name of the child
  • ​​Name of the parent
  • ​​Parent email address
  • ​​Parent phone number
  • ​​Dietary requirements 
  • ​​ I agree to have my child attend this workshop
  • ​​In case my child is unable to attend the workshop, I will inform the organisers so I can help free up space for another child
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​Resources and useful links

  • ​​Dropbox Link: Pictures WP Workshops for Kids - images shot during the Workshops for Kids in Belgrade and Bangkok. Feel free to use them for your announcement posts with due credit (included in each folder)
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