What Are the Best Coding Platforms for Kids?

Coding is one of the most elementary skills for a child in today's digitally driven world. It enhances problem-solving, critical thinking, and creativity in kids. Several kids' coding platforms have been developed, enabling children to pick up the learning process easily and more interactively. This blog will cover some of the finest coding sites for kids and what makes them ideal platforms for kids to learn to code.

Scratch

Scratch is considered one of the most widely used children's coding platforms. The targeted age for processing through this platform is between 8-16 years, though the simplified version for the same, Scratch Jr., is already available to younger kids.

Key Features

User-Friendly Interface: This drag-and-drop-based coding system is pretty easy to understand and helps kids create projects without the fear of syntax errors.

Community and Sharing: Here, kids can share projects with a huge online community working simultaneously, obtain feedback from others, and learn to collaborate.

Educational Resources: Scratch has tutorials and guides that children can learn according to their convenience and capacity.

Code.org

Code.org is a non-profit organisation that teaches children coding. Code.org provides training in coding to children of all ages in school.

Key Features

Hour of Code: These are one-hour tutorials designed to introduce concepts of computer science and coding.

Interactive Courses: The activities designed in these courses make the students a part of the learning process making the user interface very interactive and exciting with famous characters from games and movies.

Teacher Resources: Code.org offers teachers resources and lesson plans on how to carry out coding in the classroom.

Tynker

Tynker is one of the coding platforms for kids, which has many courses related to coding. It employs a gamified approach which makes children enjoy the coding application.

Key Features

Block-Based and Text-Based Coding: Tynker commences with block-based coding; it later changed over to text-based coding languages like Python and JavaScript.

STEM Projects: It contains numerous STEM projects, which not only bring about coding but also relate it to other subjects like science and maths.

Robotics and Drones: Tynker has coding courses for robots and drones, which help give a practical experience to the children.

Khan Academy

Khan Academy is a platform for kids learning to code. This platform is meant for children aged 6 to 17 years of age.

Key Features

Interactive Lessons: Every lesson is taught in a proper & interactive way to the students. The system helps children to practice and track their progress on the topic selected.

Detailed Curriculum: The curriculum comprises all, from drawing using code to animations and game development, etc.

Enabling Community: It enables the students to question and provides help through the community of learners and educators.

Code Combat

The first of its kind, Code Combat fuses an engaging game-like environment into the learning process of coding, making it an excellent platform that kids just love. On Code Combat, they're writing real code to control their characters through challenges and puzzles.

Key Features

Real-World Coding: Learn languages like Python, JavaScript, and Lua by coding right in the game.

Engaging Storylines: Young learners must stay engaged through storylines that keep kids hooked and helpful/funny characters.

Teacher Dashboard: It is a dashboard that helps teachers analyze the performance of the students easily.

Blockly

Blockly is an easy application that works on the drag-and-drop system. It is an application that creates a free environment for kids.

Key Features

Customizable Interface: Blockly is an application that helps children customize the interface.

Hardware Integration: Blockly is an application that enables coding devices physically. Micro-bit, micro-controllers are the coding devices that help children enable coding.

Open Source: Blockly is an open-source project that provides a flexible environment to children.

Lightbot

Lightbot is a puzzle game that teaches children aged 5 years and above to code in a fun-loving manner.

Key Features

Simple Interface: Lightbot has a drag-and-drop interface that is easy to chalk up for young kids.

Problem-Solving Skills: Lightbot lets kids develop problem-solving skills and logical thinking as they complete a series of increasingly complex puzzles by coding appropriate commands.

Cross-Platform: This game can be played on several platforms, including iOS, Android, and even browsers.

Kodable

Kodable is a platform, especially for children from kindergarten to standard V. It gives exposure to children related to gaming.

Significant Features

Game-Based Learning: Kodable imparts the basic concepts of coding and the related logic through game-based learning.

ULONG rollable: Teachers are provided with lesson plans, activities, and resources in the platform to bring coding into a classroom setting.

Progressive Curriculum: Stepping from Scratch-like drag-and-drop to more advanced programming concepts.

Bitsbox

Bitsbox is a subscription-based coding platform that sends a monthly coding project to kids. Over and above each box is an online code editor.

Key Features

Monthly Projects: Monthly new coding projects are allotted to children, which helps them code easily.

Real Code: Bitsbox is a tool that teaches kids to create code in JavaScript. That gives a strong base in programming.

Fun Themes: These projects come with fun themes and characters that make coding  enjoyable and relatable.

Scratch Jr

ScratchJr is the purposed, simplified version of Scratch for young children aged 5 to 7. It is a first-step, drag-and-drop programming language that helps children master the simple concepts of programming. It has the following features:

Age-Appropriate: The interface and activities are developed as per the age group's cognitive skills of the younger child.

Kodu

Students can create games on their PC and Xbox with a simple visual programming language without any previous design and programming experience. With Kodu, kids can learn a vast range of coding skills including but not limited to all the concepts of basic programming such as variables, number and string manipulation, loops, polymorphism, subroutines, etc.

App Inventor

Originally developed by Google and now hosted at MIT, the site teaches users how to create Android apps using the drag-and-drop, visual App Inventor programming language. Video tutorials and courses in a box make App Inventor easy, educational, and fun. Students will be able to build and share mobile apps with a similar approach to block-based programming moving objects around the screen.

Code Monster

Ideal for kids who have little experience with JavaScript and are looking for practice. Brief instructions and an engaging game motivate the learner to find and use additional tutorials and textbooks which will enable gameplay.

Plural Sight

Plural Sight has one of the largest libraries of online coding classes at aspiring and new developers' fingertips. Over 50 distinctive expert-led classes within seven paths are organized. Each pathway covers the basics of just one coding language or topic, such as JavaScript, Ruby, iOS, HTML & CSS, and Databases. The material gets gamified to keep kids engaged, and coding challenges test students' knowledge. At the same time, Plural Sight also hosts an online community forum that fields students' questions when they get stuck.  

Glitch

Glitch is a simple tool for making web apps. They are growing and streamlining developer tools; .  It's a perfect stop for older kids and teens learning to code. Coding on Glitch is like working together in Google Docs–many people can work on the same project simultaneously. Students use easy and powerful tools to build their websites and even alter projects from real-world languages and frameworks.

Code Spark

Code Spark uses the same drag-and-drop-style logic games as the others but has an arcade-ish feel in the games, which seems to make it more fun and appealing as compared to the other.

Code Spark introduces variable and inequality concepts, stacks and queues, and Boolean logic. Some games are tremendously superior at hammering in the concepts than others, and for the most part, much hand-holding is  required to get your child through all the levels. I did find that some of the games in Codespark weren't very intuitive and, like a lot of learning in programming, the tasks end up feeling a bit contrived. See below an example from the "Stacks and Queues" game where you have to choose the order of animals from the platform to fill the appropriate character at the bottom.

Frequently asked questions

Which are the best coding platforms for kids?

Below is the list of best coding platforms for kids’ learning:

• Scratch [free] – Grade School Reader to Teen+

•  App Inventor [free] – Teen+

• CodeAcademy [free/paid] – Teen+

• Code Monster [free] – Teen+

• Code Wars [free] – Teen+

• Khan Academy [free] – Teen+

• PluralSight [paid] – Teen+

• Glitch [free] – Teen+

Which programming is best for kids?

There are multiple coding programs which are available for the kids. But the best ones that can be suggested are Scratch, Coder Z, JavaScript, Ruby, and HTML. Etc.

How should kids start coding?

Scratch is one of the best coding platforms for kids which is a very basic application and kids can learn coding very easily through the application.

Where can my child learn coding?

There are multiple coding websites through which children can learn coding online. Thus websites like Scratch, Bitsbox Blockly, and Khan Academy are the ones through which children can learn coding.

What is the youngest age for coding?

The children can learn coding at an early age of 5 years. Thus the children can start coding post the age of 5 of the beginner level and can become a pro in learning coding at the age of 12-15 years of age.

Which programming is best for the beginners?

Python is the best-recommended language for children as it is easy to learn. Python language is easy to understand for children and also the best language for beginners.

How to learn coding at home?

The children can join the online courses for coding from home. Firstly, the parents should identify the type of language which the children need to learn. After which the coding online course provider should be identified and then after joining them the child can start learning coding.

Is it possible to learn coding on our own?

Yes, the children can learn coding on their own if their parents belong to the tech field and due to that they can teach coding to their children on their own. Otherwise, parents can refer to books, YouTube videos, and blogs and accordingly do self-learning and teach coding to their children.

What is Python used for?

Python is used for creating a website or mobile application. Python is an easy-to-learn language which makes it easy for beginners to adapt this language and learn coding.

Conclusion

Choosing the right coding platform is very important as children should develop an interest in coding. Websites such as Scratch, Code.org, Tynker, Khan Academy, CodeCombat, Blockly, Lightbot, Kodable, Bitsbox, and even Scratch Jr. are among the popular coding platforms for kids that teach them how to code. The entertainment aspect, being instructional and engaging, is what these websites offer when children learn the basics of programming. Having these apps/ websites available to your kids adds some nuance to their screen time. So, rather than screen time being sort of an anything-that-goes-type experience, which means it's a video, we can add "educational screen time" to their options. By visiting these leading sites to learn to code for kids, both the parent and the educator can help equip future generations with the ingredients of knowledge that will enable them to thrive in a digital world setting.

Share the coding platform that you are planning to join in the comment section below!

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