Five new YouthSpark Summer Camps coming to Microsoft Stores

The Microsoft Store is getting ready to kick off another summer of YouthSpark Summer Camps next month, and this year will feature five new subjects for students to take part in. Available at Microsoft Store locations across the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico, the camps will allow kids to learn philanthropic skills, coding, robotics, moviemaking, and more.

Here's a look at the five new curricula available as part of the YouthSpark program this summer:

• Create a difference in your world: This curriculum supports the next generation of philanthropists by offering ways to use technology to do good in their community.
• Code a talking robot with Ohbot: Over the course of this camp, students will apply computational thinking to learn how to bring Ohbot to life by coding its movements and speech.
• Make your own movie with 3D and Mixed Reality: Students will learn about several aspects of making movies, including character development, storyboarding, shooting, editing and sharing. They'll also have access to Microsoft's latest 3D drawing and movie-making technology with Mixed Reality Viewer and the Microsoft Photos app to create and interact in mixed reality, inviting friends and family to their Microsoft Store-hosted movie premiere at the end of the camp.
• Minecraft coding - learn computer science with your favorite game: Grounded in key common core standards for K-12 computer science, this camp invites students into an inclusive and immersive project built around creating, exploring and learning code in Minecraft with the help of MakeCode.
• Beginners fun with computers and coding: Through fun and simple challenges, students as young as six will learn how computers and code work together and showcase their new skills by solving hands-on coding activities.

YouthSpark Summer Camp is open to kids ages eight and older. Microsoft sayd parents, teachers, and siblings are also invited to participate in the lessons. Camps begin in May and will consist of one, two, or four two-hour sessions that run through August. For more, you can register for camps at Microsoft online or from a local Microsoft Store.