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Kids Can! Innovation Camp

Empowering global kids to help solve global problems, one idea at a time.

Kids Can! Innovation Camp provides students with the opportunity to lead their own learning as they tackle real-world problems aligned to UN SDGs through interdisciplinary project-based learning challenges. Through empathy-driven design-thinking and the use of Makerspace and ICT tools, students are empowered to create and design solutions in the form of projects and products.

HundrED 2020
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Overview

HundrED has selected this innovation to

HundrED 2020

Creativity

Sustainability

Web presence

2017

Established

4K

Children

17

Countries
Updated
June 2018
The best innovations and solutions to the global problems we are witnessing might come from the hands of curious and passionate kids tinkering in the corners of the school or in their homes. Empower kids to be agents of change to the world.

About the innovation

Because Kids Can!

We often underestimate young people. We leave the big global problems to adults, disregarding the innate curiosity that drives our young people to understand the world around them. Our schools are all about learning what from material and textbooks and seldom about immersed learning in and from the world we live in.

In response to this, in June 2017, the Kids Can! Innovation Camp was launched in Xavier School - San Juan, Manila, Philippines in the small makeshift makerspace in the grade school. From an inter-after-school-club synergy, the Innovation Camp has become a global collaboration project supported by a global team of educators, who also took the challenge of translating the camp framework into languages such as Polish, Malaysia, Korean, Viet, and Filipino among others.

Big Ideas of Kids Can! Innovation Camp

  1. The Kids Can! Innovation Camp seeks to provide grade school-middle school students the opportunity to become critical thinkers, creative problem-solvers, and active agents of change. In order to do this, Kids Can! project incorporates the United Nations Global Goals, also known as the Sustainability Development Goals of 2030, as a guiding tool for the children.
  2. The project framework brings design-thinking to the appropriate level of the students who participate.
  3. The project is grounded in passion-based learning. Students are given the opportunity to create products that they are passionate about. Students use their passions, talents, and skills (individual and collaborative) as they participate in creating solutions for the problems they are working on.
  4. The project aims to help kids come up with different and genuine solutions. The nature of solutions that the students create depends on the nature of the problem they have identified. Hence, possible solutions may include but not limited to: making or inventing, information and advocacy campaigns, call to action through service, and philanthropy.

Visit: https://kidscanproject.weebly.com for moreinformation and resources.

Impact & scalability

Impact & Scalability

The KIDS CAN project is a project- and passion-based learning that is geared towards sustainability. It uses design-thinking approach to unleash students' creativity in solving real-world problems. This innovation's potential for scalability is high because it can be incorporated into traditional school systems.

HundrED Academy Reviews

Love the fact that there is a clear focus on SDGs and that there has been clearly scalability with the project already. There is also plenty of support for other teachers around the world who want to have a go with these ideas through the free resources on the website.

Already works in 16 countries and involves thousands of children. Makes children active learners by giving them the opportunity to lead their own learning.

- Academy member
Academy review results
High Impact
Low Scalability
High Impact
High Scalability
Low Impact
Low Scalability
Low Impact
High Scalability
Read more about our selection process

Media

Kids Can! Innovation Camp Project by MDE student gets international recognition - University of the Philippines Open University
How Can We Foster A Global Mindset In Today's Students
Kids Can! Innovation Camp | HundrED Sustainability Spotlight
International Translation for Kids Can! Innovation Camp
Quick Profile of the Global Innovation Camp 2018
The Global Innovation Camp has started!
The Global Innovation Camp has started!
The Global Innovation Camp has started!
The Global Innovation Camp has started!
Kids Can Innovation Camp at Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines
Global Event! Kids Can Innovation Camp Registration!
Teacher Training for Facilitating Kids Can! - Philippine International School - Qatar
Kid-Designed Apps for Sustainability (Xavier School Camp, Philippines)
Kids Can Save -​Financial Literacy Project (Xavier School Camp, Philippines)
Kids Can: Empowering Young Learners to Address Global Problems such as Climate Change
Innovation Rooted in Empathy (It's E+STEAM)In May 2017, I began to work on a project that aimed to involve Grades 5 and 6 students in understanding the UN Sustainable Development Goals and to think about how they could help in addressing the issues and challenges that go with the SDGs. My experience in working with technology tools and in using the design-thinking approach greatly influenced the framework for this activity. As I continued to flesh out ideas for the project, I eventually added essential elements that made the project more student-driven and more practical, but at the same time, still further developing and tapping on the creativity and critical-thinking skills of the young students.The project slowly became bigger and bigger, which later became an inter-club collaboration that involved moderators and students from grade school clubs, such as the Young Scientists, Social Scientists, Tech Explorers, and SWAT (Students Working with Advanced Tech). This was the beginning of the Kids Can! Innovation Camp.Innovation Rooted in EmpathyThe Innovation Camp gave the students the freedom to choose the problem or challenge that they would address and solve. Hence, we saw different global and local problems that tackled bullying, peace, clean water, pollution, recycling, and of course, climate change. The students were given a design challenge worksheet that guided them to uncover and investigate about the problems they were solving and to come out with solutions that would address them.One important aspect of the design challenge was the essential role of empathy in creating solutions. Hence, we spent time exploring and reflecting on how people are affected by the problems they were experiencing. As seen in their empathy map and exercise, the students explored what people affected by the problems see, hear, and say, their pains and their gains. The empathy map helped the students to deeply focus their solutions to the needs of the people being affected by the problems. It gave them the chance to feel what the people were feeling. It provided an opportunity for deeper and since insight to the experience and to the problems.

Implementation steps

Familiarization to the Kids Can Innovation Camp Framework
The Kids Can! Innovation Camp follows a camp framework that follows certain steps or procedures to ensure that the kids are given the proper mindset and opportunity to engage in collaborative and creative innovation projects. The attached Introduction document guides the camp leader or teacher on the expected outcomes, planning details, and logistical concerns.
Create your Innovation Camp Team

It is important to create a team that would help facilitate the Innovation Camp. A camp should have:

1. Project Head


  • Leads the planning of the project

  • Oversees the implementation of the project

  • Leads the evaluation of the execution of the project

2. SDG Mentor


  • In charge of presenting the SDSs to the students

  • Handles the session on SDGs

  • Checks on the alignment of projects and causes to the SDGs

  • Acts as a mentor to project groups

3. Design Thinking Mentor


  • In charge of the session on the Design-Thinking

  • Acts as a mentor to project groups

4. Project Mentors


  • Acts as a mentor to project groups

  • Project group mentoring assignment may depend on the expertise of the mentor:

a.Innovation Mentor - mentors groups working on STEAM related projects

b.Information and Advocacy Mentor - mentors groups working on information, awareness, and advocacy projects

c.Service Mentor - mentors groups working on service-related causes

d.Philanthropy Mentor - mentors groups working on philanthropy-related causes

5. Logistics Head

  • In charge of venue, promotion, and logistical concerns
Plan out the schedule of the Innovation Camp
Simply, this requires scheduling the different phases of the Innovation Camp. There is an option to do the camp in as short as one day or maybe as long as 3 days. Or, like in the first Innovation Camp, during club time or even during lunch time.
Run the Kids Can Innovation Camp
Finally! Run the camp and witness how students explore and solve real-life global problems.
Check out the International Translations of Kids Can!

We have a team of passionate educators and colleagues who share in the vision of reaching all kids and having them take part in the Kids Can! Innovation Camp. So, we are translating the camp framework and worksheets to several languages for more kids and teachers to use! Check out the resources page at: https://kidscanproject.weebly.com/resources.html

Register and Join the Global Kids Can! Innovation Camp

Let your students be agents of change! Join the 1st ever global innovation camp tailored for students! Registration to the Global Innovation Camp @KidsCanInnovate is now open! Register at: http://bit.ly/2sLuuv2 For more info visit: http://globalinnovationcamp.com

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