Visual Art

This project from chapter 2 of Coding and the Arts is all about finding inspiration in the art of others. This general idea can go in a million different directions

This project from chapter 2 of Coding and the Arts simulates an Etch-a-Sketch using the Scratch pen (or any other turtle graphics based programming environment).

This project from chapter 2 of Coding and the Arts asks students to apply the visual arts concepts of depth and perspective to a program.

This project is featured in chapter 2 of Coding and the Arts.

This project is featured in chapter 2 of Coding and the Arts. In it, students explore how Perlin noise can make randomness feel more natural and organic.

This project, from chapter 4 of Coding and the Arts, can either be a really fun unplugged approach to get students thinking about how algorithms can be expressed physically, or you can plug it in using servos or motors.

This project is featured in chapter 5 of Coding and the Arts.

I’m always looking for fun “absolutely first experience with code” activities - things that feel satisfying without requiring too much background. These kinds of activities aren’t about teaching specific skills as much as they are about getting kids excited about what’s possible with programming. I’ve often used drawing with shapes as this onramp, but laying out shapes requires an understanding of and comfort with the coordinate plane that might turn off students who are math-phobic.

I’m going to try something new here, so bear with me as we see how this works. When I’m feeling stressed or overwhelmed I sometimes like to relax with a little creative coding; I just try to get something on the screen and poke around with the code until I find something that soothes me. I’m rarely building towards something specific in these moments, but I do like to explore functions and techniques that I haven’t used before, sometimes just picking a function at random from the documentation and seeing where it gets me. Because these coding sessions are more about the process for me than the actual creation, I don’t end up returning to most of these exploratory sketches. Occasionally, however, I come across something that really resonates with me from a creative perspective or helps me see a different angle to introduce a concept students. In these moments I would think to myself “maybe there’s a lesson hidden in here.”