The world of “coding” for kids is one of today’s hottest topics, but it can be difficult to find reliable, unbiased information on what exactly this all means. This is the best source on the topic of coding for kids that I have found online. I am thankful that these ideas are finally starting to become available to people of all ages.
You can search for the free coding classes which will help your child to know more about the programming languages. This helps your child to have a good learning. Here, several code languages are being taught by experts from all over the world.
Kodable
Ages: 4-11
Pricing: Free for the basic curriculum. A parent plan, available for a flat fee, includes an advanced curriculum and access on any device.
Kodable teaches computer science fundamentals through kid-friendly, self-directed lessons. Students get to create and play alongside bright, cute characters.
Starting with coding games at the Kindergarten level, the student progresses to reading and writing JavaScript. Along the way, they get to build their own characters, create levels, and take on other coders.
Organized as a classroom curriculum, each unit includes a teacher’s script, an unplugged activity, an independent practice activity, and some kind of assessment or quiz. Kodable is a great way to take students from block programming and transition to real code.
Scratch
Ages: 8-16
Pricing: Free
Scratch is the platform we use for our elementary school coding program, so we obviously love it. It’s a free block coding website for kids, developed by the MIT Media Lab. Scratch is its own programming language and consists of graphical blocks that snap together.
In addition, Scratch has a large online community where children can program and share interactive media such as stories, games, and animation with people from all over the world. The Scratch platform is designed especially for kids ages 8 to 16. Younger children can also try ScratchJr, a simplified version of Scratch designed for ages 5 to 7.
We use Scratch in our coding curriculum because it’s the perfect way for younger kids to develop their problem-solving, communication, and reasoning skills. It doesn’t teach any real coding language, but it’s a stepping stone to computer programming and coding languages.
Tynker
Ages: 4-14
Pricing: A sample of coding lessons is available at Tynker for free. Access to the complete library and a private Minecraft server requires a monthly subscription.
Tynker is a self-paced online programming course for kids. It’s a coding website for kids created for them to build their own games and apps as well as learn how to program Minecraft mods. Tynker teaches in both block programming and text-based courses.
The programming courses are game-based and space-themed with space aliens and rocket ships. Kids progress through three levels of games/classes for the track that matches their age.
A collection of courses related to the popular Minecraft game teaches kids about mods and skins, how to create mods, and how to build multi-player Minecraft games. With a paid subscription, kids have access to their own private Minecraft server, providing a safe environment for them to build mods and then play online with their invited friends.
There is no structured curriculum in Tynker, so kids progress at their own pace. It’s great for kids at any stage in learning to code whether they are beginners or advanced.
App Inventor
Ages: 13+
Pricing: Free
App Inventor is a visual, blocks language for building Android Apps. Their coding website for kids features video tutorials and courses in a box.
Originally created by Google, App Inventor makes it possible to program Android apps just by moving objects around the screen. This approach is similar to block-based programming. The course begins with setting up App Inventor and moves through building progressively more complex Android apps. Students learn how to build mobile apps and share them using App Inventor. It’s educational, easy, and fun.
MIT now hosts App Inventor online, so, lucky for us, it available for free. The tutorials have been refined for use by teachers and gathered into a Course-in-a-Box that includes video and text-based lessons. Instead of keeping your kids off the phone, App Inventor will help kids go inside the phone.
Code Avengers
Ages: 12+
Pricing: A limited-time free trial or a monthly subscription is available.
Code Avengers is a coding website for kids that uses self-paced, mostly text-based courses. The courses include introduction to coding, introduction to web development, and coding in Python, HTML & CSS, or JavaScript.
Kids work through the lessons, debugging code, and completing challenges before. Code Avengers will automatically track your child’s achievements as they work through lessons and activities. They give you a Parent Dashboard, where you can view your children’s progress through the courses, the projects they’ve created, and the concepts they’ve learned.
When they hit a snag, kids have access to online support and technical support. This live help can be lacking in many other self-paced programs.
Code Monster
Ages: 13+
Pricing: Free
Code Monster is an interactive game that gives kids a place to practice writing JavaScript. From the moment you get to the site, you will be coding. Code Monster assumes that the student already knows some JavaScript and just needs a place to practice syntax.
All you have to do is follow the monster’s instructions on this coding website for kids, but there is little help otherwise. There’s a How to Play page, About page, and a FAQ. That’s it. The FAQ encourages the student to search for JavaScript tutorials and textbooks elsewhere.
The purpose of Code Monster is to provide a fun, immersive platform to practice, not necessarily learn, syntax.
Your child can learn to code from home.
Try our live, online coding classes for kids risk-free.
GameBlox
Ages: 13+
Pricing: Free
GameBlox is a block-based programming site for making games online for web and mobile devices. It allows anyone to develop games that you can play online and on your mobile phone.
You can use their starter projects as a base and make them more fun or use the “Make a Game” button to go straight to the code editing screen. This coding website for kids offers five getting started tutorials, but that’s all you need. There is an online forum on the site where questions can be posted and some video tutorials on YouTube.
The games students make can be played online at the GameBlox site or on a mobile device using the GameBlox app. If your child is mainly interested in game development, try starting here.
Conclusion
Whether you’re an experienced programmer or new to the field, there’s plenty to learn in this collection of free resources for students, educators, and parents. This page is full of valuable tools for anyone who wants to master the basics of coding. Check out the activities on scratch, programming tools for kids, free textbooks, online courses, and more.