Teaching kids the principle of coding at an early age
would help develop their logical thinking. This logical thinking involves the
process of solving problems, the ability to spot and solve mistakes when a
program does not work as intended, and This also makes them financially
independent and innovative at a younger age.
To make your job of teaching and guarding your kids while
they learn how to code, they exist simplified, visual programming
tools that would make your job an easy task.
In this article, I have listed 10 free websites and tools
that are dedicated to helping your kids learn and gain a coding skill without
stress.
1.
Khan Academy
2.
Scratch
3.
Blockly
6.
App
Inventor
7.
Tynker
8.
Code.org
10.
Codemonkey
Khan Academy: Khan Academy is a non-profit organization
that offers extensive free learning courses for young people, though known for
its mathematics challenge, Khan Academy also offers programming tutorials were kids
are taught how to build digital skills like; graphic design, animations, interactive
visualizations. And recently, Khan Academy got to partner with Pixar and this gives
users a chance to learn how artists at Pixar get their design jobs done.
Age: 13+ years
Platforms: Web/Mobile
Scratch:
This is a great website where kids get to learn how to build anything they get
to imagine through dragging and dropping blocks logically. Scratch website was
created to help young kids become programmers without stress.
Age: 8-16 years
Platform: Web
Blockly:
: Just like its name, Blockly website teaches programming through puzzles and
blocks. Kids get to create stories that solve a specific problem by logically
dragging and dropping and once they are through, they are allowed to see the
results of their work in action.
Age: 8+ years
Platform: Web
Swift Playgrounds: This free coding platform teaches kids the
basics of Swift coding language through in-game instructions and challenges. Kids
get to learn to code in a 3D environment, by programming characters to
accomplish challenges and goals.
Kids are being taught Swift fundamentals like; commands,
functions, loops, conditional code, variables, parameters, operators, types,
initialization, and bug fixing.
After learning the basics of Swift programming, kids get to
create games, apps, etc. for Apple devices.
Parents, guardians, and teachers can download guides to
teach coding to kids to aid them in stress-free training.
Age: 8+ years
Platforms: iPhone/iPad/ Apples laptop
Scratch Junior:
This is a free coding platform for kids, It’s one of the best coding apps for
kids. Kids can drag and drop the code blocks to program games and interactive
stories. Scratch Junior was developed by
MIT to teach younger learners who can use Scratch how to code.
The app can be downloaded on an Android or iOS device,
Kindle and ScratchJr extension can be downloaded and added to Chrome browser to
make learning accessible to all.
Age: 5-7 years
Platforms: iPhone/iPad, Android, Kindle, and Chrome
extension
App Inventor: This
is an intuitive, visual programming environment that allows everyone – even
children – to build fully functional apps for smartphones and tablets. Those
new to MIT App Inventor can have a simple first app up and running in less than
30 minutes. And what’s more, our blocks-based tool facilitates the creation of
complex, high-impact apps in significantly less time than traditional programming
environments. The MIT App Inventor project seeks to democratize software
development by empowering all people, especially young people, to move from
technology consumption to technology creation.
Age: 6+ years
Platform: Android Phone
Tynker: On Tynker,
kids are taught how to build apps, explore STEM, code robots, games, code
drones and create MOD Minecraft challenges. Tynker teaches the basics of
programming and also teaches JavaScript and Python in kid-friendly ways
Age: 7+ years
Platforms: Android, Phone, iPhone/iPad
Code.org: This is a
nonprofit dedicated to expanding access to computer science in schools and
increasing participation by women and underrepresented youth. Code.org also
organizes the annual Hour of Code campaign
which has engaged more than 15% of all students in the world
Age: 5+ years
Platforms: Web/ Android
freecodecamp.org:
Freecodecamp is a non-profit organization that offers free coding lessons on
HTML5, CSS, Responsive design, Front-end development, JavaScripts, JQuery, automated
testing, JSON, React and Back-end developments
on Freecodecamp, there are challenges with instructions that
help your child learn real-life programming and build innovative applications.
Age: 12+ years
Platform: Web
Codemonkey:
On Codemonkey platform kids are exposed to more than 200 free challenges where
kids get to write codes to enable a monkey to catch bananas.
On Codemonkey, there are 35 lesson plans for teachers to help
guide students through programming and teachers have access to a dashboard that
helps them monitor the learning curve of each student.
Age: 4-11 years
Platform: Web
