ITHAC Kids Summer Bootcamp
Six days. One learning journey.
We put curious young minds in a room and started talking about Artificial Intelligence and drone technology. What followed was a week of questions, first attempts, and real growth. This is how it went, day by day.
What the Kids Explored
Artificial Intelligence
Understanding how AI works and thinking beyond what they already know.
Prompt Engineering
Learning that a useful answer is less about what you ask and more about how you ask it.
Drone Technology
Drone anatomy, flight principles, safety, and real practical flying in the field.
Hands-On Learning
Trying, making mistakes, adjusting, and trying again until the pieces click.
Inside the Journey
Six days, one learning journey. Here is how the ITHAC Kids Summer Bootcamp unfolded — from a room full of curious questions to young hands flying drones with real confidence.
Getting Curious About AI
The bootcamp opened with an introduction to Artificial Intelligence. Participants explored how AI works and took on tasks designed to push their thinking beyond what they already knew. There were questions, ideas, and plenty of “Ohhh, so that’s how it works!” moments. Day 1 was about learning and getting curious — the practical work was still ahead.
Meet the Drones
Day 2 brought the learning to life. Participants moved into drone technology, covering drone anatomy, flight principles, terminology, and safety, guided by one simple rule: know the drone before you fly it. From there it was back into AI, building on the Day 1 foundation. The questions were sharper, the engagement higher, and the excitement clear on every face.
Hands On
Things got hands-on. The day started with learning how to communicate better with AI through prompting — understanding that a useful response is less about what you ask and more about how you ask it. Then came the moment everyone was waiting for: the drones. Participants flew a drone for the first time, putting instructions into action. They weren’t just being introduced to technology anymore — they were starting to interact with it.
Into the Field
Learning doesn’t always look easy. Participants took their work outside the classroom and into the field, spending more time practising with the drones. For many, this was their first time doing this kind of field work, so there were mistakes, adjustments, and a lot of trying again. That’s the point of learning: you don’t have to get it right the first time, you have to be willing to try, learn, adjust, and try again.
The Pieces Click
Something shifted. The hesitation from earlier gave way to confidence. Participants picked up their drones with more certainty, adjusted settings faster, and needed far less guidance than on Day 1. What looked like trial and error a few days earlier was starting to look like real skill — moving from “how does this work?” to “I’ve got this.” One more day to go before closing day.
Watching them move from “how does this work?” to “I’ve got this” was the best part of the week.
The ITHAC Foundation runs structured technology programmes for young people. If you would like to partner with us or bring a bootcamp to your school or community, let’s talk.