It’s Computer Science Education Week and tens of millions of students in 180+ countries are being introduced to computer science and computer programming through a program called Hour of Code.
What is the Hour of Code?
The Hour of Code is a global movement by Computer Science Education Week and Code.org. Anyone anywhere can organize an Hour of Code event. One-hour tutorials are available in over 45 languages. No experience needed. Ages 4 to 104.
Computer Science and Kids
Geeks like my software engineer husband and myself get excited when it comes to computer science being taught to kids. WHY? Both my husband and I are both self-taught because “back in our day” computer science education wasn’t that big of a deal.
Introduce Your Kids to Coding
Sure, there was coding a rainbow in Pascal or playing Oregon Trail on the school library computer – and those few and far between moments on the computer opened the door for my husband and I to have a long career in the tech field.
Best Resources to Teach Your Child to Code
If you are interested in your child learning to code, here are the best online resources to get your kid started. We started our son at around 9-years-old with online tutorials and it’s been amazing watching what he has learned in regards to coding!
Minecraft Coding Tutorial
If your kids are like mine and totally into Minecraft – Microsoft and Code.org have teamed up with a Minecraft coding tutorial to inspire all young people to try coding. Give it a try online, or better yet – find a Microsoft Store Hour of Code Camp (keep reading!)
The tutorial allows players to create their own custom game experience, plugging together blocks of code to control the behaviors of sheep, zombies and other creatures. It includes a set of 12 challenges, followed by free play time so users can create a game using the coding concepts they’ve just learned.
Microsoft Store Hour of Code Camps
This week (and next in some locations) Microsoft Stores are offerings hundreds of free coding workshops in Microsoft Stores across the globe. The free, 90-minute workshops take part in the global Hour of Code movement during Computer Science Education Week. The workshops are designed for kids ages 8 and older.
Your kids will go behind the scenes to learn how to code, program, and play in your own gaming world. They’ll use kid-friendly programming to learn how creativity and problem solving come together to make something all their own.
Camps fill up quickly.The parent, legal guardian or authorized adult caregiver of every camp participant must remain in the Microsoft store for the duration of the event.
Scratch
Our son’s favorite thing to do is Scratch. I actually think he may be on Scratch more than on Minecraft! Scratch is a great way to ease your child into learning coding. The best part? While your kid will learn to code – they most likely won’t even be thinking about the fact that they are learning to code!
What is Scratch?
Scratch is a programming language and an online community where children can program and share interactive media such as stories, games, and animation with people from all over the world. As children create with Scratch, they learn to think creatively, work collaboratively, and reason systematically.
Scratch is designed especially for ages 8 to 16 but is used by people of all ages. Millions of people are creating Scratch projects in a wide variety of settings, including homes, schools, museums, libraries, and community centers.
Scratch is used in more than 150 different countries and available in more than 40 languages.
Students are learning with Scratch at all levels (from elementary school to college) and across disciplines (such as math, computer science, language arts, social studies).
Apple Camp
Each summer, Apple offer Apple Camp for kids 8-12 years of age. Read our post Everything You Want to Know About Apple Camp to learn more.
Sphero
We are huge fans of Sphero here at Digital Mom Blog. Each of our boys have really taken to learning how to make Sphero do certain things. Well, hate to tell you kid – what you actually are learning to do is code!
Sphero has a large array of robots that will help your kid learn to code. Read our Sphero 2.0 Review
Start them while they are young, right? What resources have you used to help your kids learn to code?