App Camps goes international: Hello Singapore

How exciting – the first international App Camp took place in Singapore. It was wonderful! Sixteen young ladies between 10 and 16 years learned basic coding skills and developed their own apps.

Together with Duana – she was a coach at the very first App Camps workshop in 2013 – we organized a coding camp in Singapore. And we found great partners for this event: Google Singapore. (Thanks to our Google Impact Challenge ambassador Jörn who connected us with Sven from the Google Singapore office.)

The camp was fully booked quickly. And because we received so many great applications it was easy to find the girls for the 3-day camp.

Day 1 was about getting to know each other and learning basic concepts of coding and developing first apps. Joe, the Google Singapore office director, even stopped by to welcome the girls. What an honor!

Day 2 started with the pitches. So many great ideas! Five ideas were selected and the teams started working on their own apps. A highlight on day 2 was an office tour. We saw the gym, the spa, the restaurant, the play room, the chillout areas, and of course we tested the ice cream machine. Wow!

Day 3 was exciting: Presentation day. After finishing the apps, parents and friends visited us to see the results. After a warm welcome by Jenn, each team presented their app.

• “Save Woodstock & Friends” is a fun game with Snoopy.
• “My Future” is an app that helps students reach their full potential.
• “Name your babe” is an app that helps you choose a name based on the Alphabet and number of letters.
• “Study Pal” is an app that helps you annotate your reading materials and create quizzes.
• “Egghunt” is another fun game that helps you train your brain and reflexes.

The demo went great and everyone was delighted!

A very special Thanks goes to our coaches Shi Mei and Joycelin. They did a wonderful job and supported the girls in a great way.

For the participants the camp definitely was a great and lasting experience. Here are some voices:

App Camps is a place that really motivated me to dive deeper into coding, a place that encouraged all new ideas and overall an experience I will always cherish as I get to be a more experienced coder.

A great platform to introduce girls like me to the wonderful world of coding.

Awesome camp, had loads of fun creating apps!

Thanks to everyone who was involved in organizing, coaching and participating. It was a wonderful experience for all and we are thankful for the days full of ideas, inspirations and fun!