Back when I was in high school taking Information Technology as an elective in years 10 through 12, we covered topics that seem pretty tame by today’s standards – basic HTML, website design, Flash animation software and of course, the seemingly inescapable Microsoft Excel. If you go back even further to my mum’s day, “Computer Awareness” was only just becoming widespread in secondary schools and you probably had to take a college-level course to pick up the kind of computer skills that many of us take for granted today.

Fast forward to 2018 and Coding is now part of the NSW school curriculum… for kindergarteners. That’s right, no typo – kindy kids are learning coding! While that doesn’t mean these tots are smashing out lines of code on a computer, it does mean that they’re being introduced to the fundamentals of computational thinking at a very early age. That means stuff like problem solving, recognising sequences, and understanding cause and effect.

Even if they don’t wind up employed in the technology sector, these kinds of lessons can do wonders for a child’s analytical and numeracy skills. It also makes them more likely than any other generation before them to develop interests in technology, gadgets and gaming. While this is amazing, it can leave some parents (or grandparents) stumped for things to do with the kids that involve these interests.

Whether you’re a tech-head looking for some fresh ideas or tech just isn’t your thing, here are five fun and parent-friendly activities of the tech-y variety. Give one of these a whirl and not only will you and the little ones enjoy yourselves, you may just learn a thing or two along the way!

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How can you combine creativity, costume-making, and all kinds of crafting with a hearty dose of geeky fun? Cosplay, of course! If you’re out of the loop, cosplay, or ‘costume play’ refers to the act of wearing a costume that looks like a character from a fictional work. The practice of wearing these costumes to science fiction conventions grew popular all the way back in the 1940s.

It’s not strictly limited to science fiction, though – today, characters from virtually all forms of media are cosplayed, including comic books, cartoons, manga, anime, video games, novels, TV series, movies. It’s open to all ages – even babies can get in on the action with a little help from their parents. If there’s a will, there’s a way (although having a hot glue gun helps a lot).

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If you’re not a fan of reality TV, chances are that you might prefer your stories with a much cleaner divide between good and evil. If you hadn’t guessed already, we’re talking about super heroes: straight from the pages of novels and comic books, they’ve been coming to life on the small screen thanks to CGI and a broader market of television networks.

While it’s hard to say no to an action-packed blockbuster at your local cinema, a TV series gives us enough time to get to know the characters and in many cases, see them get to know each other. So while you’re getting your latest fix of Game of Thrones or Preacher, we’ve scoured the internet for all the latest news of superheroes to bring you a choice selection of shows that you should definitely add to your “to watch” list!

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