10-Day Curriculum: AI & Machine Learning for Kids

Day 1: What is AI? How Does It Work?

Activity 1: AI in Daily Life (Discussion & Exploration)

• Task: Talk about AI in daily life: voice assistants, recommendation systems, self-driving cars.
• Explore: AI demos like Quick, Draw! (Try it here).

Activity 2: Watch & Learn (On-Screen)

• Platform: What is AI? (TED-Ed)
• Task: Watch the video and discuss:
  • "Can AI think like humans?"
  • "What are its limits?"

Activity 3: AI Detective Game (Off-Screen)

• Task:
  • Show two pictures (e.g., a cat and a dog) and ask:
    • "How would an AI tell the difference?"
  • Discuss how AI learns patterns instead of "thinking" like humans.

🔹 Why It Matters: Understanding AI basics sets the foundation for real projects.

Day 2: How AI Learns - Training Data & Bias

Activity 1: Train an AI to Recognize Doodles (On-Screen)

• Platform: Teachable Machine
• Task: Upload 10 pictures of different objects and let AI learn the patterns.

Activity 2: The Bias in AI (Discussion & Experiment)

• Task:
  • Show pictures of different people, animals, or foods.
  • Ask: "Could an AI recognize all of them equally?"
  • Discuss bias in AI (e.g., facial recognition working better on certain skin tones).

Activity 3: AI Guessing Game (Off-Screen)

• Task:
  • Have your child "be the AI" by guessing animals or objects based on clues (simulate how AI learns).

🔹 Why It Matters: AI models are only as good as their training data—learning about bias is key!

Day 3: Hands-On AI - Building a Simple Chatbot

Activity 1: Create a Chatbot with Scratch + AI Extension (On-Screen)

• Platform: Machine Learning for Kids
• Task: Use Scratch to train a chatbot that can respond to basic questions.

Activity 2: AI Story Generator (Online)

• Platform: Talk to Transformer
• Task: Enter a story prompt and let AI predict the next sentences.

Activity 3: "Robot Talk" Challenge (Off-Screen)

• Task: Pretend to be a robot answering questions. Rules:
  • Speak only with the words you've "learned" (simulating AI learning).

🔹 Why It Matters: Helps kids understand how AI processes language.

Day 4: AI in Games - Teaching AI to Play

Activity 1: Train an AI to Play Rock-Paper-Scissors (On-Screen)

• Platform: Machine Learning for Kids - Rock Paper Scissors
• Task: Train an AI to recognize hand gestures and play Rock-Paper-Scissors.

Activity 2: Play Against AI in Chess

• Platform: Chess.com AI Mode
• Task: Play against different AI levels and observe how it improves.

Activity 3: Code a Simple AI Opponent (Scratch)

• Task: Create a random AI opponent in Scratch that plays Tic-Tac-Toe.

🔹 Why It Matters: AI is used in video games and strategic decision-making.

Day 5: Image Recognition & Computer Vision

Activity 1: Train an AI to Recognize Objects (On-Screen)

• Platform: Teachable Machine - Image Classifier
• Task:
  • Take photos of different household objects and train AI to recognize them.

Activity 2: Experiment with Google Lens (On-Screen)

• Platform: Google Lens
• Task: Take pictures of objects & see if AI correctly identifies them.

Activity 3: DIY AI Sorting Game (Off-Screen)

• Task: Sort objects (e.g., fruits vs. non-fruits) as quickly as an AI would.

🔹 Why It Matters: AI uses pattern recognition for self-driving cars, medical scans, etc.

Day 6: AI & Music

Activity 1: AI Music Composer (On-Screen)

• Platform: Google's AI Music Lab
• Task: Create a song using AI-generated patterns.

Activity 2: Can AI Recognize a Song?

• Platform: Shazam
• Task: Play songs and see if AI can recognize them.

Activity 3: Create a "Robot Song" (Off-Screen)

• Task: Write lyrics using only AI-related words (robot, algorithm, smart).

🔹 Why It Matters: AI is used to compose, remix, and generate music.

Day 7: AI in Art & Creativity

Activity 1: AI-Powered Drawing (On-Screen)

• Platform: Deep Dream Generator
• Task: Upload a drawing and let AI generate an artistic version.

Activity 2: AI Portrait Creator

• Platform: This Person Does Not Exist
• Task: View AI-generated human faces and discuss how they were created.

Activity 3: AI Art Challenge (Off-Screen)

• Task:
  • Have AI generate an artwork, then try to recreate it manually.

🔹 Why It Matters: AI is being used in film, animation, and design.

Day 8: Speech & Voice Recognition

Activity 1: Talk to Google Assistant/Alexa

• Task: Ask funny or tricky questions and analyze AI’s response.

Activity 2: AI Lip-Reading Experiment

• Platform: LipNet AI Demo
• Task: Try to read AI-generated lip movements.

Activity 3: Record & Recognize Your Voice (Off-Screen)

• Task: Record sentences and see if AI can recognize emotions.

🔹 Why It Matters: AI powers voice assistants & speech-to-text software.

Day 9: AI & Self-Driving Cars

Activity 1: Play with Self-Driving Car Simulator (On-Screen)

• Platform: MIT Self-Driving Car Game
• Task: Choose who the car should save in ethical dilemmas.

🔹 Why It Matters: AI is behind Tesla & Waymo self-driving cars.

Day 10: Final AI Project - "Build Your Own AI"

• Choose one final project:
  • AI chatbot (using Scratch)
  • AI picture classifier (Teachable Machine)
  • AI storytelling generator

🔹 Why It Matters: AI is the future—this helps kids understand & create it.

Let me know if you want to extend this to 20-30 days! 🚀