Jump! Mag

Science, Nature and Tech

Get Cracking With Computer Coding for Kids

Kids computing – there’s a lot of talk going on about it right now. What do you learn about computing in your school? Are they teaching you how to make cool video games? How to come up with a story that makes sense, how to make sure that it’s engaging, that there are challenges at each level, and that there’s a reward at the end? How to build that?

How to make the bird you toss flop realistically into a pile of whatever you choose – making sure that gravity works the way you would expect it to (or not). How to craft the graphics you need to tell your story? How to publish that to your own smartphone and to share it (or sell it!) to friends and strangers?

Hmmm, I didn’t think so. “ I’d rather just do some Power Point and Word exercises, “ said no kid, ever.

Home, Health & Style, Popular

6 Things Kids with Special Needs Wish EVERYONE Would Do

When we published our article 6 Things Parents Wish Their Kids Would Do … and 6 Things Kids Wish Their Parents Would Do, one of our readers got in touch to say we should do one for the things that kids with special needs wish EVERYONE would do. So we asked our followers, and came up with this list.

It was a bit tricky to put the list together, because there are so many different kinds of “special needs”. For some children, their disability is quite well manageable with medication, or with assistance and therapy, and you’d hardly know they had any additional needs. You may have heard of autism or Asperger’s Syndrome – these are part of the autistic disorder spectrum, a range of conditions that affect how people communicate and relate to people around them. You can’t tell by looking at someone if they have ASD.

Other children have disabilities that are apparent when you meet them, such as those with Down’s Syndrome, which we have covered in more detail here. Or they might use a wheelchair to get around.

What thing do they all have in common? They sometimes get asked really silly questions, and get treated badly by people. Make sure you aren’t one of them, by listening to what the kids (and their parents) had to say!

Food and Recipes, Toys and Games

Offline Minecraft Activities

What to do When Your Parent Says ‘No More Minecraft Today!’

You could wail, ‘That is UNFAIR! You are horrible to me, you are so MEAN!’… or you could talk to them about WHY they are banning Minecraft for the day. Is it perhaps because you’ve been playing for hours and hours, and they think that you should get off the computer/iPod/Playstation?

We are willing to bet that is the reason, not because they want to annoy you. We parents worry that you are online too much, that you are ruining your eyes, that you are going to turn into a big square person who looks just like Steve!

So instead of complaining, how about you and your parents have a look at these fab OFFLINE Minecraft activities that are all to do with Minecraft, so that both you and your parents are happy? (Remember our article about negotiation? That is what this is!)

Language & Literature

Calling All (Reluctant) Bookworms

Em is a reader. A bookworm. She always has been, and always will be. Some people love to read, but some people don’t. Which are you? Maybe you are nagged by your parents and teachers for not reading enough. Perhaps reading is a chore, part of your homework assignment that you rush through, without enjoying because it has to be done. Would you like to learn to love reading? Em has some tips for you.

I really love reading. I mean, I really love reading. I learned to read when I was 4 years old, and I’ve never really stopped since. I used to amaze adults with my reading – I read classic Greek literature (translated, obviously) when I was 9 years old.

Language & Literature, Popular

The Great Vowel Shift

If you have learnt a foreign language, or if you are bilingual in another European language, you may have noticed that there are a number of words that are similar to words in English. Perhaps you may even have been told that some of them are derived from Latin or Greek, or that they have Germanic roots. But why is the pronunciation so often so different in English?