An important stimulus for the development of the cognitive interest of school students is the historical aspect of school knowledge. The use of elements of historicism in informatics lessons and as part of extracurricular activities expands the horizons of students and enhances their general culture, especially considering that the vast majority of modern schoolchildren have little idea of the development of informatics and often cannot even set the time frame for a particular invention. In modern school textbooks, the theme "History of the development of informatics" is not singled out in a separate paragraph, historical facts are given separately, which makes it difficult for students to form a holistic perception of this theme. However, this theme is important for the personal development of students, including the education of patriotism. The article presents an extracurricular activity — a quest dedicated to the Programmer's Day, which is celebrated annually in Russia on September 12 (in leap years) or September 13 (in non-leap years). The quest helps to introduce the children to the main scientists who contributed to the development of informatics, it develops reading literacy skills, the ability to search for the necessary information in the text, search for information on the Internet, including searching by image. The facts used in the quest can later be useful to schoolchildren at various competitions and Olympiads.