VIRTUAL STORYTELLING WITH ROBOTS

During the Virtual Storytelling with Robots activity, children in all participating countries used tablets with the Scratch Jr and Quiver apps, working in small collaborative groups with the support of their teachers. After being introduced to the apps, the workshop began with a discussion about storytelling—its purpose, characters, settings, and plots—after which the children created their own story ideas, such as a robot going on a treasure hunt and meeting helpful characters along the way. In Scratch Jr, they designed robot characters by choosing or modifying graphic elements, created backgrounds, and programmed movements, dialogues, and interactions using simple visual coding blocks. They added sound effects, tested their animations, and adjusted their programs to make the story flow smoothly. In the Quiver app, children first drew their own robots, scanned them into the app, and brought them to life as interactive 3D elements, which they then incorporated into their narrative. They developed plots about robots living in the future, solving problems, or going on adventures, combining drawings, animations, and digital storytelling tools. After completing their stories, children presented their creations to peers from Poland, Slovenia, and Finland during a virtual meeting, proudly sharing their animated robot adventures and celebrating their collaborative work.