🛡️ Code Kids Cyber Camp

First-time setup — pick your computer below
🍎

Mac

macOS / MacBook

🪟

Windows

Windows 10 or 11

🍎 Mac — How to start the camp

Modern Macs already have Python 3 installed, so there's nothing to install. You just need to start the local server with one double-click.

1
Unzip the folder

Find code-kids-cyber-camp.zip in your Downloads and double-click it. A folder appears called code-kids-cyber-camp. Open it.

2
Right-click START_HERE.command → Open

Inside the folder, find the file called START_HERE.command. The first time only: right-click it and pick Open. Mac will show a security warning — click Open on that too. After that first time, you can just double-click normally.

3
A black window opens with a message

Don't worry — that's the server running. Your browser will open automatically with the camp loaded.

Terminal — START_HERE.command
🛡️ CODE KIDS CYBER CAMP 🛡️ ✅ Python 3 found ✅ Using port 8000 ════════════════════════════════════════════ The camp is running at: http://localhost:8000/index.html Your browser should open automatically. ⚠️ KEEP THIS WINDOW OPEN. ════════════════════════════════════════════
4
When you're done — close the black window

That's it. Closing the Terminal window shuts the camp down cleanly. Next time you want to play, just double-click START_HERE.command again.

❓ Mac — Troubleshooting

"This app can't be opened because Apple cannot check it for malicious software"

This is Mac's safety check (called Gatekeeper). Our launcher is a tiny safe text file, not a real app — but Mac is being cautious. To get past it:

  1. Right-click (or Control+click) the START_HERE.command file
  2. Pick Open from the menu
  3. A new warning appears — click Open again

You only have to do this once. After that, double-clicking just works.

"command not found: python3"

Your Mac doesn't have Python 3 installed (rare on modern Macs). To install it:

  1. Open the Terminal app (search Spotlight: ⌘+Space → type "Terminal")
  2. Paste this and press Enter: xcode-select --install
  3. Click Install on the dialogue. Wait a few minutes.
  4. Then double-click START_HERE.command again.
Browser didn't open automatically

No problem — just open Safari/Chrome/Firefox yourself and type into the address bar:

http://localhost:8000/index.html

(Or whatever port number the black window says — usually 8000.)

For teachers: how do I host Flag Wars multiplayer?

For everyday camp activities, use START_HERE.command. For Flag Wars only, double-click START_FLAG_WARS_HOST.command instead — that runs the multiplayer server.

Tell students to scan the QR code shown on the host screen, or visit the URL http://<your-mac-name>.local:8000 from their iPads (on the same Wi-Fi).

🪟 Windows — How to start the camp

Windows doesn't come with Python by default, but it's a free 30-second install from the Microsoft Store.

One-time setup: install Python first (see step 1). After that, every time is just a double-click.
1
Install Python (one time only)

Open the Microsoft Store app, search for "Python 3", click the latest version (e.g. Python 3.12), click Get or Install. Takes about 30 seconds.

If you can't use Microsoft Store, instead go to python.org/downloads and run the installer — important: tick the box "Add Python to PATH" on the first screen.

2
Unzip the camp folder

Find code-kids-cyber-camp.zip in your Downloads. Right-click → Extract All → pick a location → Extract.

3
Double-click START_HERE.bat

Inside the folder, find the file called START_HERE.bat and double-click it.

Windows Defender SmartScreen may pop up saying "Windows protected your PC". This is normal — our launcher is just a text file, not a virus.

Click More info → Run anyway. You only have to do this once.
4
A black window opens with a message

That's the server running. Your browser will open automatically with the camp loaded.

Command Prompt — START_HERE.bat
[ CODE KIDS CYBER CAMP ] [OK] Python 3 found [OK] Using port 8000 ============================================ The camp is running at: http://localhost:8000/index.html Your browser should open automatically. [!] KEEP THIS WINDOW OPEN. ============================================
5
When you're done — close the black window

That shuts the camp down cleanly. Next time, just double-click START_HERE.bat again.

❓ Windows — Troubleshooting

"Python is not installed"

Easiest fix: open Microsoft Store, search Python 3, click Get. Then re-run START_HERE.bat.

If you installed from python.org and still see this — re-install and tick "Add Python to PATH" on the very first screen of the installer.

"Windows protected your PC" warning

This is Windows being cautious. Our launcher is a tiny safe text file. Click More info (a small link), then Run anyway. You only have to do this once per file.

Browser didn't open automatically

Open Chrome/Edge/Firefox yourself and type into the address bar:

http://localhost:8000/index.html

For teachers: how do I host Flag Wars multiplayer?

For everyday camp activities, use START_HERE.bat. For Flag Wars only, double-click START_FLAG_WARS_HOST.bat instead.

Tell students to visit the URL or scan the QR shown on the host screen, on the same Wi-Fi network.

"This script contains characters Windows doesn't like" / weird symbols

Some Windows installs don't render emoji or box-drawing characters in the cmd window. This is cosmetic only — the camp still runs fine. Ignore it.

💡 What's actually happening?

The launcher starts a tiny web server on your own computer (called localhost) using Python's built-in http.server. Your browser then connects to that server instead of going onto the internet. Nothing leaves your computer.

The server is just for serving files — nothing is uploaded, nothing is shared, your computer doesn't become "a website on the internet". It's the safest possible way to run a web app.

⚠️ Can I just double-click index.html instead?

No — please don't. A few of the lessons embed the Candy Shop in iframes, set cookies, or fetch data — browsers block all of those when you open a file directly. The launcher script is the easiest way to make everything work.

If you do open index.html directly, the camp will warn you with a red banner.

🚀 Ready?

Close this window, go back to the camp folder, and double-click your launcher: