Afterschool Mini AI Summer Camp K-2

Afterschool center

Diamond Bar, Southern California, USA

Undergrad. and graduate CS students; technical educators

• Afterschool center

Summer camp

5 days

Around 6

Individual device

• No individual logins allowed No personal data collection Time-limited setup and teardown Poor Wi‑Fi signal

Approx. ages 5–7

No prior experience with generative AI tools assumed

No prior programming background assumed

• Narrative structure (beginning–middle–end) Creative expression

• Awareness of AI as a tool (not a human) Prompt clarity and iteration Reflection on human vs AI contributions

• Not a programming lesson Not an AI theory lesson

Generative AI storytelling application; AI concept slides

English

• Co-creator

• Students pick their favorite stuffed animals Educators take a picture of the animal Students provide or pick short prompts using text or voice AI generates story segments Students provide or pick more prompts using text or voice

• No free-form open chat Content moderation enabled

• Educators introduce storytelling concepts Group brainstorms story themes Students input prompts AI generates draft story text Final story is read aloud

• Human: theme selection, editing, discussion AI: draft generation, storyline suggestions

• Prompt cards with examples Sentence starters Educator-led reflection questions

• One student cannot read or speak English Some prompts were vague or contradictory Younger students needed help typing prompts One student felt not learned, so he was later added to the age 8-10 group.

• Added pause points for human editing

• High participation Students volunteered ideas actively Peer discussion increased after AI output

• Students revised AI text intentionally Students debated story coherence Some students questioned AI “choices”

“It was surprising and deeply encouraging to see that a student who does not yet read or speak English was still able to learn core AI concepts and perform very well on the assessment quiz. This experience reinforced how AI learning—when designed with visuals, interaction, and hands-on exploration—can be inclusive and accessible beyond language barriers.”

• No personal data collected No student names recorded No recordings or images stored

• Practitioner observation
• Activity documentation

• Design-based research Informal learning studies AI-human collaboration framing Early AI literacy conceptualization

• Learning sciences Educational technology AI literacy Informal STEM education

• Completed

Elementary

Afterschool center

Generative Text/Image/Voice

Non-collaborative and collaborative Learning

Low

None