On Saturday, April 4, we held our "Let's Build an AI Game" programming workshop — a chance for children to turn their own game ideas into reality. We ran two sessions (morning and afternoon) with eight participants each, welcoming sixteen children in total.
The challenge: use a computer to program an original game from scratch. Some children looked a little nervous at first, but with staff supporting each participant one-on-one, it wasn't long before every child was leaning forward with full concentration, fingers flying across the keyboard.
The finished games left our staff genuinely amazed:
- A Pokémon-style card battle game
- A hunting action game set in a forest, with deer as the targets
- A Super Mario-style side-scrolling platformer complete with a boss fight and a clear condition
Watching children build entire game worlds from zero — characters, rules, and all — was a vivid reminder of what "the joy of creating" really looks like. Even after the session ended, many participants were still buzzing with plans: "I want to add more stages," "I want the enemies to move in different patterns." Programming and AI can sound intimidating to adults, but children's imagination and ability to absorb new ideas leaves any such impression far behind.
Digital Kodomo BASE will continue to offer hands-on events like this on a regular basis. If you'd like your child to take part, keep an eye on our homepage and social media for upcoming dates. We also welcome donations from anyone who wants to support our mission.