This is a partnered post.

Sometimes, it’s amazing to think that ten years ago, a GPS, camera, phone, voice recorder, small computer, and MP3 player were all different items. Nowadays, you can find all of those items wrapped into your smartphone which you can carry around in your pocket or the palm of your hand.

Technology is constantly growing and expanding and it can be difficult to stay up with all the trends. Chances are, your kids may have a better grasp on the latest applications, functions and new tech items than you do. An answer to the simple question “Hey, what are you doing?” may leave you bewildered. The future holds just more and more technology for everyone.

3 Tech-Based Activities to do With Your Children

As a parent, you naturally want to encourage your child’s interests and see that they grow and become upstanding citizens. With technology, it can be daunting, but there are plenty of activities you can do with your children that won’t leave you behind the curve. Check out the list below!

Design a Game

From the start, that may seem like a tall task. You’ve watched your kid play Fortnite or Call of Duty, and the magic behind it seems too complicated.

To be honest, designing a game of that magnitude takes a lot of time, money and effort. That’s why game development studios have hundreds of employees, often spread around the globe working on different tasks.

Fortunately for you, your game idea only requires a few people.

Take for example, the program Scratch. They’ll be able to build and design their own game from, well, scratch. They can set music, characters, rules and all kinds of different agendas. It’s a fun way to let them create something on their own and show it off to everyone!

There are lots of other products out there that can help your kid become a mini-expert on programming. Soon, they’ll be designing the next smartphone!

Release the Inner Steven Spielberg

If your children are old enough, you have probably shown them classic Spielberg movies like E.T. and Jurassic Park. Even though the effects might not hold up to modern standards, these movies are called classics for a reason.

If your child is into movies, you could help them make their own films. You don’t need any fancy equipment or software, chances are you have everything you need with you right now.

A smartphone can record video just as easily as taking pictures and with fantastic quality. Both Macs and Windows computers have free, easy to use editing software where you can add titles, cuts and small effects.

This way, you can work with your child on developing a story and script. Let them show off their creative side and see what they can come up with. You may have to set the budget on their future blockbuster, but it’s another way for you too bond together.

If your child has a lot of action figures or legos, you could always try a stop-animation film. The process is quite easy, where you move the figure, take a picture, move the figure, take a picture and so on. At the end, put all the pictures next to each other in your software to make it look like they’re moving!

Build a Website

Building a website sounds difficult from the outside, but there are plenty of tools that will make it a breeze for you. There won’t be long lines of codes or impossible situations.

This is a perfect opportunity to combine two of your child’s hobbies. If your child loves the NFL or a certain TV show, they could make a website where they talk about the last week’s games or what they think will happen on the show. It’s a good way to practice their writing and critical thinking skills, all while building their technological skills.

You can help them choose a cool name and design the overall look and feel of the site. It’s a project you both can work on together and something your child will definitely feel proud of while making.

If you have relatives that live far away, they could make it like their journal for their family to read. They could talk about their soccer league, their latest vacation or what’s been going on in school. Overall, it can be a fun and fulfilling activity for them.