Spark a Passion for Tech: Inside the Lyza Scratch Challenge for Kids
- Lyza Education
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
After months of preparation, we are thrilled to welcome the inaugural batch of participants to the first-ever Lyza Scratch Challenge (LSC)! For parents new to LSC, this is the first preview to what the competition is all about.
What is the Lyza Scratch Challenge (LSC)?
The Lyza Scratch Challenge is an annual Scratch programming competition for children, designed to showcase their creativity and coding skills. It’s a platform for young minds to bring their ideas to life through code.
Competition Details & Convenient Orchard Location
We’ve made participating easy for busy families. Our centre is located in the heart of Singapore in Orchard, easily accessible by both public and private transport.
Dates: Various Fridays, running until December 19.
Flexibility: We offer three time-slots each day to accommodate your schedule.
A Glimpse into the LSC Experience
While parents often drop off their children for lessons, this competition has been a wonderful opportunity for families to engage more deeply. Many parents took time off to attend, receiving valuable feedback on their child's progress from our team, including our Curriculum Lead, Evan.
Meanwhile, the children enjoyed a well-deserved reward, exchanging their hard-earned "Kash" for physical gifts, making it an early Christmas celebration!
We also take the chance to catch Colin, who not only is a Coding Teacher, but has also been busy working on software development projects over these few months too, for a quick interview, to know about his experience thus far.
Hi Colin, we heard that one of your students have just participated in this week's competition. How was it like seeing him in action?
It was great to see Nathaniel take part in the Scratch Challenge. Watching him work through the tasks and apply the computational-thinking skills he learned in class was a great way to reflect on the effectiveness of our teaching. I also believe this was a valuable experience for him, to be able to apply his skills under pressure, make mistakes, learn from them, and keep going.
Some of our students are as young as 7, do you think they are ready for competitions?
Definitely. While we don’t expect our younger students to create projects at the level of mature coders, children as young as seven can already begin developing strong computational-thinking and problem-solving skills. In my opinion, the Lyza Scratch Challenge is an excellent platform for students to independently apply what they’ve learned, explore their potential, understand their limitations, and gain confidence through competition.
Did you know? |
Many coding competitions set a minimum age of 9 because children need time to develop computational-thinking skills, but we believe that kids that are younger can also benefit from early exposure. From age 6 or 7, children can begin building key skills such as problem decomposition, algorithmic thinking, logical reasoning and creativity, foundations that help nurture digital literacy and confident, flexible minds. By organising competitions like EdTech Quest and LSC for our younger learners from age 7, we give them a supportive, motivating sandbox to practise and grow early, building confidence and a love for coding that will serve them well as they progress into higher tiers. |
We heard something is brewing on your end in terms of software development! Can you briefly share about what could be in store for older students that are aged above 10?
We are in the midst of launching a new feature on our platform for students aged 10 and above, a Python auto-grading system. It will allow students to attempt coding challenges directly through a web-based Python editor and receive instant feedback through built-in test cases. In addition, we are integrating this with a new feature that enables students of all ages to attempt questions right on our platform. We are excited to share more as we get closer to launch!
Did you know? |
The new feature that Colin is currently in the midst of launching was inspired by LeetCode, an online coding platform. Such platforms are also used by large tech companies like Google, Meta (Facebook), Amazon, Apple, and Netflix to to filter a high volume of applicants based on coding and problem-solving skills. In addition, many students even at university level, both locally (E.g. NUS, NTU and SMU) and globally, also use such services to practice their coding skills. |
What's Next? Judging and Awards Ceremony
All participant projects and presentations will be collated. Our judges will review them, and the winners will be announced at our awards ceremony on December 20 at 2pm.
Congratulations and Good Luck!
To our first participants: Congratulations on a job well done! We hope you enjoyed the experience and are inspired to reach greater heights in coding.
To the mummies and daddies, curious to see what your little ones have come up with? Fret not, we will be sharing videos separately to you to keep you posted on what they have come up with soon!
For those competing in the coming weeks: Keep practicing Scratch at home! Start planning your projects, and we look forward to seeing your marvelous creations.
Inspired? Secure Your Child's Spot!
Is your child interested in coding? Spaces for future time-slots are still available. Don't miss this chance for them to develop critical STEM skills in a fun, competitive environment.
Ready to enroll for our programs or have questions? Feel free to contact us here!
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