When Kids Take Charge of the Class: Creativity and Flexibility Are the Order of the Day at UPENDO Labs

This week, UPENDO Labs held another robotics session with six 7th- and 8th-grade students at the Ernst-Mach-Gymnasium in Hürth.

The session’s initial goal was ambitious: to program an “anti-theft” system for a robot. The principle was simple: if someone picks up or moves the robot, it triggers an audible alarm until the correct code is entered. But right from the start of the session, the students showed a different desire: to experiment freely and create their own projects.

Rather than strictly following the planned program, the students began exploring the robot’s musical capabilities. Using mBot and mBlock, they managed to program different notes and even short piano-style melodies. Some participants went even further by trying to develop a “Rock-Paper-Scissors” mini-game.

In response to this enthusiasm, the UPENDO Labs team decided to adapt the session to allow more room for creativity and experimentation. The “anti-theft” project will thus continue during the next session, and some students have already started working on it.

A teaching approach based on adaptation

This session perfectly illustrates UPENDO Labs’ educational approach:

• listening to the children’s interests
• encouraging experimentation
• turning curiosity into hands-on learning

Beyond programming, the students developed:

• their independence
• their logical thinking
• their creativity
• their ability to test and refine their ideas

And above all, they left feeling enthusiastic and proud of their creations.

At UPENDO Labs, we believe that technology education is even more powerful when children take the lead in their own projects.