Creativity is a skill that we use every day in all areas and disciplines, and is an integral part of education and technology. In particular, the creative capacity is highly developed in children; their minds are very elastic, eager to learn and learn and therefore more likely to come up with new, original, and creative ideas. Being creative means going outside the box, linking concepts, objects, and knowledge together in an unusual way, with the aim of achieving results. Creativity is an innate ability that starts to show itself from early childhood, when young children try to express themselves through play and drawing. It is not uncommon for children to be able to travel with their imagination, inventing fantastic stories, using the few tools at their disposal.

The relationship between coding and creativity is a fascinating and evolving topic that has sparked a lively debate in recent years. In the past, creativity was often considered an exclusive domain of human beings, while coding was seen as a technical and rigid activity. However, with the advancement of technology and the emergence of new programming tools, the line between these two areas has become increasingly blurred. Moreover, it is equally important to remember that human creativity remains an essential element in this process, guiding the development and use of these technologies in a responsible and innovative way. Let us now briefly look at some of the features. Coding provides a versatile set of tools to bring innovative ideas to life, be they works of art, video games, artificial intelligence, or interactive experiences. It allows free experimentation, combining logical and computational elements with expressive languages. Through coding, it is possible to process complex data, identify hidden patterns, and generate customised and adaptable solutions.

Through programming, it is possible to bring to life stories, characters, and interactions that capture the imagination and offer unique experiences to users. Coding fosters collaboration between people with different skills and backgrounds, stimulating the exchange of ideas and the creation of collective projects. Through online platforms and developer communities, code, tutorials, and resources can be shared, nurturing a culture of continuous learning and open innovation.

In addition, it allows them to bring new ideas to life and create a huge range of digital products, from websites and apps to interactive video games. Creative programmers use their ingenuity to come up with innovative and original solutions to complex problems, creating unique and engaging experiences for users.

It requires critical thinking and problem solving. Programming is not just blindly following instructions, it requires a deep understanding of logical concepts and the ability to deal with unexpected challenges.

Ultimately, coding is not just a tool for creating software and websites, but a powerful language for expressing creative ideas, solving problems in innovative ways and creating unique experiences. Its increasing accessibility and the emergence of new programming paradigms are opening up new avenues for computational creativity, with a significant impact on various fields and aspects of our lives.

With well-structured activities, children can solve simple problems and understand the meaning of programming, which is useful for the active and non-passive use of devices.

Referring to the SCI-CO+ Project’s macro-objective of promoting modes of scientific communication in order to outline professional profiles capable of implementing them, this article describes a creative teaching workshop on coding for students aged six to thirteen.

Through play and programming, children are taught how to solve problems and develop ‘computational thinking’, a logical-creative process that enables them to break down a complex problem into several parts in order to tackle it more simply and solve the overall problem. With coding, children can also become active subjects of technology. Furthermore, programming a robot and making it move in space improves logical-mathematical skills, spatial orientation and the study of elementary geometry.

The aim of the workshop is for students to learn how to write code to programme a robot that has to deliver messages to the inhabitants of Earth in order to save the planet.

In this activity, the ‘story’ takes on an important role, starting with a story, in our case we chose to deal with the theme of the environment, which has fully entered the curriculum and textbooks for primary school. This is why it seems useful to address this topic by starting with a viewing of the trailer for the film WALL-E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57Fg__7nJ2Q. When Disney-Pixar presented WALL-E in 2008, it was a public and critical success and immediately became an ecological manifesto, even winning the Oscar for best animated film. In this story, deep and important themes are narrated, but always with a positive, even optimistic spirit in the finale, which can be explored further in class during curricular activities.

The general objectives of the workshop are

• Introducing young children to coding and computational thinking, i.e. the ability to solve a problem by planning a strategy.
• Transferring coding techniques to move from passive to constructive use of devices and understanding how to ‘make’ programmable objects do something, through the basic concepts of the programming language, accessible to all, receiving practical guidance on how to programme the Wall-E robot, while having fun!
• Stimulating children, especially those with learning difficulties, to discover coding and programming.
• Encouraging creativity and problem solving.

and transversal ones:

• Sorting thoughts and finding solutions.
• Knowing how to orient oneself in space.
• Learning to measure.
• Becoming active subjects of technology.

The activity starts with watching a trailer of the animated film WALL-E, which suggests several topical issues such as pollution, lifestyles, consumerism, renewable energy, and the responsibility of our actions especially towards nature to be explored in class.

The film tells the story of the robot WALL-E, who in the distant future is the sole inhabitant of the planet Earth, now abandoned by humans due to excessive pollution and the continuous accumulation of waste. One day, a high-tech robot named E.V.E. descends from the sky and makes him fall in love. In the name of this love, the two live an adventure that changes their destiny and that of humanity. After watching, the children are asked about what they have seen, what emotions, what messages are present and then they are asked to write a short story taking their cue from the topics covered in the film and develop a sequence of actions (programming code) to be carried out by the little robot, which they will have at their disposal (their WALL-E). The ultimate goal will be the delivery of messages to humans to save the Earth.

Then small working groups of max. 4/5 students are created. Each group will have to invent a short story, represent it with a path, programme the robot, write the code and come up with a message to save the Earth.

The presenter starts the activity by presenting WALL-E and asks the children to observe and study it to define its characteristics. He then goes on to describe the programming area: what the buttons and arrows indicate and how the robot can be programmed. Once this preliminary phase has been completed, the children are asked to imagine a route from the work group’s workstation to the message delivery area. At this point, the children define the route and the commands they have to give WALL-E to make it execute the imagined route and deliver the message. The programming code must be written on a sheet of paper before programming the robot and handed over to the presenter (because it will be used at the end to define the meaning of programming code). As a final step, the presenter reads the code prepared by each group, programmes the robot and checks whether the indications received are correct in order to make the robot follow the same path and reach the goal correctly, otherwise the code must be corrected and the robot tried again. The activity ends with the reading out of all the written messages to develop a decalogue to save planet Earth, which is handed over to the accompanying teacher to be studied in depth in class.

In conclusion, coding and creativity are not opposing concepts, but rather two sides of the same coin. Creative programmers use their technical skills and imagination to bring innovative and engaging digital products to life. As technology advances, the role of coding in the creative sphere is set to grow more and more.

Our WALL-E