#kids code

Check out these mini-games I coded! Which one is your favorite?

These games were made with Microsoft MakeCode Arcade code block editor. All of these games can be played on the Ovobot Xtron Pro handheld game system or in your browser! For the most part, the backgrounds and sprites were pre-generated, my work was the code. My Github with all of the Ovobot gamefiles is here. Princess GameBat Pet gameCherry Bomber gameTalking Hermit Crab gameTalking Monkey…

- By Bitange Ndemo , The Conversation -

Across the world, the conversion of information into a digital format – also called “digitalisation” – has increased productivity in the public and private sectors. As a result, virtually every country in the world is working towards a digital economy.

ROXY CLOCKWISE…KID CODE’S partner and best friend…pencils the amazing Stacey Robinson…finishes by Jennings. Image by BLACK KIRBY! Information on KID CODE here!

GREAT GIFT FOR KIDS - CODING

I am a Kickstarter addict, and this is my latest hit.

BITSBOX - kids coding challenges

Teaching kids to code with a choice of quick, customisable real-life projects that they get in the mail/post, can build on a desktop and easily transfer to any device.

Suitable for 5+ guided or 7+ on their own.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bitsbox/bitsbox-monthly-coding-projects-for-kids

From two dads that met at Google, and beautifully designed. I just wish they would ship overseas! For us non-US-located-folks, they have a PDF of the projects - you don't need the physical stuff to build the apps.

And you can test it out with your kids for free, before you buy

We had so much fun teaching more than 100 high schoolers how to code with The Flatiron School Summer Program that we want to do it all year long. Today we’re happy to announce that enrollment is open for Flatiron After School—a 12-week-long coding program where high school students can learn the skills real developers use every day. Best of all, we’ll teach them the same material we teach adults in our immersive programs—the ones that gets folks jobs at places like Etsy, Boeing, and The New York Times.

Classes will be held every week for a total of four hours, either after school or on the weekends. The schedule is pretty flexible, so students can make time for coding among all of the other extracurricular activities they’re involved in. Students who enroll will get access to passionate teachers and the tools they need to learn real coding skills—something that you just can’t replicate with online tutorials.

Real Code. Real Apps. No Kids Stuff

Let’s not underestimate high schoolers. They are capable of doing amazing things with code. We just have to show them what’s possible by letting teachers who are passionate about programming use real-world concepts to teach students how to love it, too.

High schoolers enrolled in Flatiron After School will learn all the same stuff they do in our adult program—that’s HTML, CSS, Javascript, and Ruby. By the end of the course, they’ll be able to build and deploy working apps.

Why Code?

Code is in everything we do. It fuels our economy, drives our day-to-day interactions, and has the power to inspire billions of people. Technology is changing everything, and one way to help drive this change is to learn how to program.

Even if the students we teach don’t ever want to become programmers, they can use programming as a tool to be even better at whatever it is they want to do. They can build things that enhance how they listen to music, design clothes, watch sports, or interact with their friends. Code is for everyone (not just people who like math or video games), and it can help high schoolers engage with what they do love on an even deeper level.

The Details

Enrollment for Flatiron After School is open today! Students can select from two formats: (1) classes that meet once a week for four hours or (2) classes that meet twice a week for two hours each day. The structure of the program is designed to allow for flexibility in schedules but also leverage the immersive nature of our teaching methods.

All courses are taught at The Flatiron School campus at 11 Broadway in the heart of Wall Street in downtown NYC. The program is led by Director of K12 and Social Impact Lyel Resner and Lead Instructor Victoria Friedman, as well as a number of teachers specializing in web development.

Flatiron Summer School was an absolute blast. In just two weeks, more than 100 high school students went from little to no coding knowledge to building dynamic web applications in Sinatra—that's what we teach our adult classes in a month! They took on the exact same material and totally ran with it. We were so impressed with what they accomplished that we wanted to share a few of their apps:

Humans of New York

Ethan built an app that texts users when a new photo is posted to the wildly popular Humans of New York photoblog.

Dress Without Stress

Courtney (who attended with her brother and sister) made a practical apparel app called Dress Without Stress, which provides fashion recommendations based on the weather.

Random Facts

Rishi made a Random Facts app to serve up a new random fact every day. Look, now you know what phosphenes are. And knowledge is power.

Inspirational Quote Generator

Christine was super diligent about blogging her experience in a Tumblr. Her last post is on her final project, a Sinatra app that shares inspirational quotes (and good vibes).

SAT Trainer

Natalie's app posts a daily SAT question to help her study for the test (which according to her countdown is coming up soon!). It also offers some stress relief in the form of playlists and cute hedgehog GIFS.

Activity Generator

Really, really bored? Zoe Goldstein made an activity-generating app that suggests things to do when you can't think of any yourself—like "paint your nails" or "read a novel."

We also saw stock market scrapers, Lana Del Rey fan sites, and a whole bunch of animated GIFs, including this surprisingly well-prepared bucket head. It was awesome (and totally inspiring) to see these students express their creativity, intelligence, and incredible senses of humor through code.

What's Next