How to Get Children Into Computing from a Young Age

This post may contain affiliate links.
Thank you for visiting Cori's Cozy Corner! Please make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our E-mails!

daniella computerKids love technology, and if you’ve got children you’ll probably be sick of them always being glued to a laptop, tablet or a smartphone – more often than not playing games. However, an interest in technology from a young age doesn’t always have to be a bad thing, as let’s face it – the world today is centered around computing and technology, and the more computer-literate and confident with computing that you child is, the better a chance they will have at landing decent jobs when they’re older. If your child loves technology and you’d like to get them to channel that interest by learning how to code and more about the technical side of technology, here’s a few ideas.

Child-Friendly Coding Programs

There are a number of coding websites designed specifically for kids, and they have a child friendly interface that will encourage your child to visit the site in order to learn. Made With Code by Google was specifically designed to encourage more girls to get into coding and has a number of different coding projects for any level and ability that are quite easy to follow. If your child has never had any sort of coding experience before there’s no need to worry – project levels range from complete beginner to intermediate to advanced so that your child can progress as they learn.

Code.org

Launched in 2013 to help more schools to include wider access to computer science teaching and also to enable underrepresented and minority students to learn how to code, code.org is not only a site that is an advocate for computer science and coding, it’s also a great place for your kids to explore and learn as well. Much like Made With Code, code.org has a number of different lessons and tutorials that budding coders of all ages and abilities can follow, and it’s not just coding that they focus on with lessons and tutorials included for all aspects of computer science – it could inspire them to be the next Aubrey Chernick!

Code-Inspiring Games

If your child doesn’t seem too happy about sitting through online lessons and tutorials, there are a number of different apps and games that they can play on and have fun whilst also learning the basics of coding. Kodable is one such game which scaffolds programming skills in order to help young children learn how to code. It’s designed for kids aged 5-8, and is free – or $7 if you’d like to upgrade to the pro version. It is designed to run on the iOS operating system which is great if you’ve got an iPhone or an iPad. For those who don’t use iOS operated devices, Robozzle is also a great game aimed at kids 6+ and even adults that will work on Android and Windows devices, and can even be played on a web browser using a laptop or PC.

Do you have a child who’s into computer science and coding? Which sites, apps or games was it that inspired them to learn more and sparked their interest? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.

Cori's Cozy Corner Disclosure Policy