Learning to code is one way to boost confidence, creativity, problem-solving skills, and technical knowledge. In the next 10 years, every elementary, middle school, and high school student will have to take computer science courses. There’s no need to wait until school to learn. There are plenty of ways to encourage your child’s coding skills, no matter what age, according to Danny Errico.
Encourage Hands-On Activities
One way to get your children interested in coding is to encourage more hands-on learning. There are toys and gadgets that teach them about coding. Two of the most popular toys are Dash and Dot and Little Bits. Kids over the age of 5 will enjoy playing these toys, and may not even realize they’re learning how coding works. These toys are a great way to turn your kids into little programmers and developers.
Lego Boost is another toy that encourages hands-on activities to increase their learning. This advanced is for kids aged between 7 to 12 years old and allows them to build robots and vehicles one at a time. Once they create these toys, they can use an app to control them. You’ll need a smartphone or tablet to run this app.
Create Real-Life Coding Situations
Another great way to get your kids interested in coding is to put them in real-life situations that teach them about the importance of coding. There are plenty of day-long and weekend-long events that will get them interested in this subject. Not only does it get them out of the house, but it also gets them learning.
MakerFaire is an annual event in New York City that’s similar to a science fair. It provides children of all ages a combination of hands-on and skill-building activities. Another event is Girls Who Code, which is a seven-week immersion program aimed at teenage girls. They’ll learn an understanding of various programming applications such as CSS, mobile development, and robotics.
Another popular event is FIRST, an organization that includes a wide array of coding challenges for students aged 6 to 18 that encourages teamwork and generates a better understanding of robotic programming.
Use Online Resources
Code.org is an excellent example of an online resource that provides an extensive list of educational apps and a list of local schools that specialize in coding. Most of these courses are categorized by age group and come with an Hour of Code section. These hour-long tutorials teach kids how to develop their own applications, games, software programs and more.
Codemoji is another online resource which teaches kids the basics of CSS, HTML, and Javascript. Once they learn how to code, they can build their own websites or animated games. Codemoji uses visualizations that maintain your child’s interest as they create impressive projects. By using expressive emojis rather than complicated technical language, learning can be enjoyed at a faster rate. Lessons are done at the child’s pace and even allows parents to learn code as well.
Let Them Use Coding App
As your children are developing coding skills, it’s important to find platforms that are educational and pleasurable for them. Kodable and Scratch are two mobile apps from MIT Media Lab that teaches kids of all ages about coding and programming. Meanwhile, Bitsbox is a monthly subscription service that updates new coding projects on a regular basis. However, this app is aimed at kids 6 to 12.
Get Them a Coding Mentor
Search for organizations that encourage children to head down the engineering, mathematics or science path. Engineer Girl is an organization that creates personal connections from female engineers. Million Women Mentors is another effort based on one million STEM mentors to encourage interest and confidence in STEM fields in young girls. And Women@NASA is an online hub in which women share career advice and offer virtual mentorship to young girls.
Coding is an important skill to learn in all industries. Whether your child is using it to develop an app or build and program a robot, learning how to code is a valuable skill. There will come a time when your child will need to know how to code. These resources prove that no age is too young to learn how to code.
