Prewired, the Edinburgh programming club for young people, is hosting its second annual Summer Make-a-Thon! Come join us for a full weekend of coding and problem solving. You'll join a team, build a solution to a problem together, present your solution to the other attendees, and maybe even win a prize!

Our normal Wednesday evening events will also still be running throughout summer! Click here to sign up for those. New dates are added at the end of each month.

The Prewired Summer Make-a-Thon is a full 2-day event, running from 10 to 5 on both Saturday and Sunday. You'll join a team and together will think of a real-world problem that's important to you. Over the course of the weekend, using a technology like Scratch, BBC micro:bits, or App Lab, you'll build a possible solution to that problem. Of course, our mentors will be there the entire time to help you out. At the end of the weekend, you'll present your solution to the attendees and a jury will judge each entry. There might even be prizes to be won!

Note: unlike our regular Prewired events, you can only join the Make-a-Thon if you are 11 or older, as that is the minimum age you can attend without parents present.

Price

The event is completely free to attend. If you sign up, we do expect you to attend both days.

Equipment

It's good if you can bring your own laptop if you can, as you'll be able to get to work a lot faster on a system you're familiar with. However, if you don't have any at hand, we do have many spares you can use.

Food and drink

We will provide snacks and drinks throughout the weekend, but you'll be expected to provide your own lunch. Please bring a packed lunch with you on both days. Alternatively, you can go out during the lunch break to buy your own lunch, but only if you have parental permission to do so as indicated on the sign-up form.

Location

The entrance to CodeBase is on 37A Castle Street - come in to reception and there will be volunteers to welcome you.

Teamwork

We will create teams of 3 or 4 before the event starts, based on the technology you've chosen to work with and your level of experience. If you really want to be in a team with someone else you already know is joining, or have any other concerns about teamwork, you can enter that on the sign-up sheet and we will do our best to accommodate your request. We can't, however, 100% guarantee in advance that you will be 

Technologies

Together with your team, you will pick one of these technologies to work with during the weekend:

• Scratch is a block-based programming language that you're probably familiar with if you've been to Prewired before. While relatively easy to learn, you can create many cool things with it, from games to animations, and if you've never done any programming before, this is a great place to start.

• BBC micro:bits are tiny computers that you can connect to and program from your laptop. We will provide micro:bits for everyone who wants one to work with and highly recommend you pick this option if you'd like to work with hardware as well as software.

• Code.org App Lab is an online editor that allows you to build your own phone apps. Using either drag-and-drop or JavaScript, you can design and control everything. This is a great option if you've already used Scratch before and would like to try something new this time.

Prefer to work with a different technology? Prewired attendees have worked with languages like Python and HTML/CSS and we have our own LEGO Mindstorms, Arduino, and Raspberry Pi kits. You can indicate your preferred technology the sign-up form and if there are enough of you for a full or hybrid team then we will allow it, though keep in mind that our mentors might not be able to help you as much as with the other technologies!

Parents / guardians

Parents and guardians are welcome to come along and watch the project presentations on Sunday from 15:00 - 17:00! 

Due to space constraints, we won't be permitting parents to stay during the rest of the event, with the exception of special circumstances - please let us know beforehand on the sign-up form or at hello@prewired.org.

Cancellations

If you sign up but realise you can't make it, or if you accidentally book extra spaces for any reason, please make sure to cancel your ticket so the spot can be released to someone else!

Contact

Please get in touch via hello@prewired.org with any questions.