Morse code for kids

El April 27, 1791, Samuel Morse was born in Boston, who along with Alfred Vail, created the Morse Code. We are going to tell you some curiosities about this code that has been very useful and used in communication during the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries, although now in the XNUMXst, with new technologies it has fallen into disuse.

Knowing the importance of the great inventions in history, their creators and how they have brought us to this day is very important for children. Also if your son or daughter wants to have secret conversations with their friends, or participate in a scout group, This knowledge of Morse code will be very useful to you. Lets start by the beginning.

What is Morse code and why is its day celebrated today?

As we have said, April 27 is the day Samuel Finley Breese Morse is born, better known as Samuel Morse, one of the inventors of this binary code and who gives it its name. Samuel, in addition to being an inventor, was a painter, in fact he was a good painter. In the year 1835, together with his collaborator Alfred Vail began to develop a communication system to transmit messagesto distance. Thus the Morse code was born.

The Morse code it is a binary system, this is only of two elements, the dash and the point, remote representation. The line and the point are represented through sounds, short in the case of the point and long in the case of the line. Combining stripes and dots Morse and his friend formed the numbers, letters, and other signs and graphics. This is how they transmitted the messages. Since it was invented in English, the letter Ñ is missing.

Later, this same sound system was used with light. So also with light signals you can use Morse code. A curiosity: the first message that was officially received in Morse was on May 24, 1844 from the city of Washington to Baltimore, and it was the inventor Samuel Morse himself who received it. It was a quote from the Bible.

Is it good for children to learn Morse?

Although today with telephones and the Internet we do not need to use Morse code, it is good that children know it. Thanks to him, they will be able to make a very interesting and fun coding exercise. The brain will exercise a type of abstraction, associating and substituting some sounds or images for others, which when put together, gives them meaning. So they can resolve the message.

In this way, through Morse abstract thinking develops, whose greatest exponent in childhood is the use of zero. In general, this capacity is not worked enough in the educative area, and Morse code is a useful tool that can be implemented in class. In addition, building an emitting device is another task that will inspire children.

The messages transmitted through Morse code, as most adults do not know or practice this code, will serve the boys and girls to recreate their own language, and pass on secrets. And there is nothing that attracts a child's mind more than having a secret.

Steps and tricks to learn Morse code

There is a table, the one you have above, that identifies each letter of the alphabet (except ñ) and its corresponding representation in Morse. When it's done through sounds, the short sounds are the dots, and the long sounds the line. For example, if you want to say E, this is the most used letter, you will only have to press the bell once. 

A piece of advice that we give to moms who want to teach their children Morse code is start each day with a letter. Both to "write" it and to read it. Then you can move on to words, and finally to phrases. On the internet you have sounds recorded in Morse to practice, and there are also applications for mobile phones.

Another way to learn is with mnemonic rules. In other words, assigning each letter of the Morse code a specific keyword, this word begins with the letter you want to remember. And also the number of syllables in the word is the number of lines or dots that the letter has. And now it only remains to practice it!