Handing the control booth of a live theatre production over to a group of six- and seven-year-olds might sound a bit like asking a toddler to defuse a joyful, glitter-filled bomb. It’s vibrant, it’s high-energy, and without the right wire to cut, it could easily turn into a beautiful, chaotic mess.
But when you provide young learners with the right scaffolding, that potential chaos transforms into a beautifully orchestrated symphony.
This is exactly what happens with our KS1 Tech Team. This dynamic group of Year 2 students doesn’t just dabble in technology; they are active drivers of it. They regularly share tech tips, pilot new applications, and even spend time teaching some of our teachers how to use new tools.
Most recently they shared the use of Animator by Aardman with our Head of Year 1 so he could take it back to his team!
But recently, they took on their most colossal job yet: running the lights and sound for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) show.
We aren’t talking about a pretend play setup here. The children are operating a proper multitrack mixer and a full light rig. They have been practising tirelessly, and their excitement is absolutely palpable. They have just finished their first full run through and were impressive to say the least! However, we quickly ran into a genuine logistical hurdle. While they were brilliant at adjusting sliders and triggering the lights, playing the actual music tracks on cue was a bit harder and somewhat of a struggle. Navigating through various computer folders and trying to double-click tiny icons with a standard computer mouse in a dark booth was frustrating and prone to error. Also, with their entire world being touch and speech operated devices, I might not have done the best of jobs at teaching them the basic ICT skills of using a computer mouse.
They asked a brilliant question: “Is there an easier way to have the songs ready so we can just press a big play button?”
Enter “Vibe Code” and the AI Soundboard
That single question sparked a phenomenal learning moment that we have dubbed our “Vibe Code” project. Instead of me going away and building a tool for them, the children became the developers.
Using a speech-to-text tool, the students spoke directly to Gemini, describing exactly what they envisioned. They prompted the AI to build a webpage where they could easily select all the music and have giant, foolproof buttons to start and stop the sound. Gemini took their spoken instructions and generated a custom, offline HTML file that did exactly what they asked for.
Now, we have a simple index file that lives directly on the computer. Once the audio files are loaded into it, the page generates massive, colourful buttons displaying the title of each track. It looks and feels like a professional soundboard, perfectly tailored for tiny hands to trigger the exact sounds at the correct time.
If you are running a school production and want to give this child-designed soundboard a try, you can access on online version here(I also added the export functionality myself so you can package projects and shows more easily): https://sethideclercq.com/tools/kidsshow/
The Power of Student Advocacy and Voice
This project is a perfect encapsulation of why student voice is so critical in early childhood development. When we talk about student advocacy, we aren’t just talking about letting children choose their seats; we are talking about giving them authentic agency over their environment.
Research, such as Roger Hart’s Ladder of Children’s Participation, highlights the profound difference between tokenism and true agency. When children are treated as co-creators who can identify a problem and actively design a solution, their cognitive engagement skyrockets. By allowing the Tech Team to articulate their struggle and use AI to forge their own solution, we validated their experience. They didn’t just learn how to click a mouse better; they learned that their ideas have tangible power in the real world.
Building Your Own School Tech Team
This is our Fourth year having a dedicated Pre-Prep Tech Team, and it has been a slow, deliberate buildup. If you are looking to start one at your own school, here is a quick breakdown of how to get the ball rolling:
- Start Small and Tangible: In year one, our team simply helped ensure iPads were plugged in and headphones were untangled. Give them quick wins to build their confidence.
- Elevate to Peer Mentorship: Once they master a single app (like a drawing or simple coding tool), have them teach it to another class. The pride they take in being the “expert” is mesmerising to watch.
- Involve the Teachers: Encourage your staff to be willing learners. When a six-year-old teaches a veteran teacher how to use a new feature on an interactive whiteboard, it shifts the entire dynamic of the school’s learning culture.
- Introduce Authentic, High-Stakes Projects: By year three and four, you can start introducing them to real-world tasks, like running the slides in an assembly or, in our case, manning the soundbooth for the EYFS show.
Watching these young children confidently manage a live production using a tool they helped design through AI is nothing short of magical. It is proof that when we give students the stage, and the soundboard, they will always put on a spectacular show.