Interested in getting your kids involved with coding? Try searching online for coding camps or courses in your community, or try one of hundreds of online courses, programs and apps that use cool graphics and simple tutorials dressed up as games to help kids learn to code.
A few suggestions to get you started:
- Kids Code Jeunesse: Teaches free computing classes in schools and offers free lessons and resources for parents. If you’d like your child to learn to code in school, have their teacher or principal contact Kids Code Jeunesse.
- Robot Turtles: A crowd-funded board game for ages four and up. Teaches basic coding skills and computational thinking.
- SCRATCH: A program from MIT that lets kids create games and animations without learning programming text—it’s a drag-and-drop way to learn computer concepts and have fun.
- Raspberry Pi: An inexpensive (about $50) credit-card sized computer that can be programmed just like a desktop PC. Can be used as a learning tool and a full-service computer by kids and adults alike!
- LEGO WeDo: The step between traditional building blocks and robotics, this Lego series allows kids to build models with programmable motors and sensor.
- Kodable: Designed for users as young as five, this iPad app boasts the tagline “Learn to code before you know how to read.” It uses games that subtly teach coding with few instructions.
- Tynker: For kids who can already read, this app for Android and iOS helps teach programming logic with visual code blocks.