AI Playground for Kids - 2 Hour Workshop

Audience: Beginners (ages 13+ due to Google AI Studio EULA restrictions, but younger kids can join with adult supervision)
Theme: “Using Google AI Studio to design and build a simple game or app”

Workshop Overview

This workshop introduces students to AI through a hands-on project in Google AI Studio. Students will use prompts to plan, build, and improve a simple game or application, while learning how to test AI-generated ideas, fix mistakes, and use AI responsibly as a creative coding partner.

What Students Will Learn

  • What AI is (and is not) in plain language
  • How to write prompts that help generate game or app ideas
  • How to ask AI for features, screens, rules, and code step by step
  • Why AI output can be incomplete, buggy, or incorrect
  • How to test, debug, and improve AI-generated results
  • How to use AI responsibly for school, projects, and creative work

Core Activities

  1. Idea Sprint: choose a simple game or app idea students want to build
  2. Prompt Builder Challenge: write better prompts for features, rules, and layout
  3. Google AI Studio Build Time: generate and refine code, text, or interface ideas
  4. Test and Improve Round: spot bugs, confusing behavior, or missing features and revise prompts

Suggested Tools

  • Google AI Studio
  • Browser preview or simple coding sandbox for testing outputs
  • Shared reflection worksheet

Success Definition

A student is successful if they can say:

“I can use Google AI Studio to help create a simple game or app, test what it makes, and improve it with better prompts.”

Instructor Notes

  • Keep examples classroom-safe and age-appropriate
  • Emphasize that AI output is a starting point, not a finished product
  • Encourage students to build small: one screen, one mechanic, or one helpful feature
  • Normalize iteration: first prompt attempts and first code drafts are expected to be rough
  • Celebrate testing, debugging, and clear thinking more than flashy results

Next Step Ideas

  • Add a new level, character, or feature to the game or app
  • Rewrite the prompt to make the project easier to use or more fun to play
  • Compare two different AI prompts and explain which one produced better results