If you’re looking for some quality computer training time for your kids, don’t wait to register them for one of Apple’s free camps. The three-day workshops are being held at retail stores across the country, including the following Lower Mainland locations:

• Coquitlam
• Guildford Town Centre
• Oakridge
• Metrotown
• Pacific Centre
• Richmond Centre

The creative camps are designed for kids aged 8 to 12, and are excellent opportunities for kids to get hands-on with the kind of technology they’ll be using for the rest of their lives. They don’t need to have any computer experience, nor do they need any of their own equipment; Apple provides everything.

The practical, pragmatic nature of the courses means that they’ll be coming out of their three days with a completed project. There are two tracks being offered: books and movies.

In the former, kids will use iPads to draw illustrations to go with their text, and will then learn how to pull those elements together with audio and multi-touch gestures to create fully interactive, digital books using iBooks Author.

In the latter, kids start by creating storyboards for their movie. Then they shoot video and create a soundtrack using the iPad version of GarageBand before editing it all together in iMovie.

Apple also offers other youth programs that include field trips for students and teachers (when the provincial government actually decides to get kids back into classrooms, natch).

Cross-posted at the Georgia Straight