You hear about computers every day. See computers every day. Browse through the internet every day. Make use of technology every day. You can see that almost everything in our world today is computerized, so computer skills are highly needed for day to day activities.
The need to be computer literate is essential for everyone, both kids and adults. Anyone can learn how to code. When I say anyone, I mean anyone no matter the age, all it takes is just time and seriousness.
Children tend to learn faster and quickly get accustomed to whatever was introduced to them at a young age. So if you want your kid to be an excellent computer programmer or developer, he or she has to start learning how to code now.
Some coding languages are not that complex and kids can learn them quickly. These languages should be ok enough as they are sure to lay a robust coding foundation in the life of your kids.
Nowadays, the need for kids to learn how to code is almost as critical as them learning to read ABC and 123. There are many advantages and wholesome opportunities available for your kids if they learn how to code.
Learning to code helps to improve their intelligence, and it also expands their scope of creativity. It is a means by which your kids can learn new skills to empower and educate themselves as it teaches them logic and reasoning.
If you have a kid or kids that have a strong interest in learning coding languages, do your best to encourage them and provide them with all the necessary materials that they would need.
10 Best Coding Languages for Kids and Where to Learn Them
1. SCRATCH
First on my list is Scratch. Mitch Resnick developed scratch with the sole aim of helping children within the ages of 8 – 16 learn how to code. It is an excellent platform for any kid to learn coding as it features a user-friendly block coding interface as an advantage over the typing of codes.
Scratch mostly teaches children how to efficiently design games and create cartoon animations, stories within minutes. You will be surely amazed as at how quick your kids will learn the coding process by using scratch.
Scratch has an online community that has over 10 Million users. Your kid can easily interact with other kids in the Scratch community. They can engage in coding projects and share experiences all to the benefit of your kid’s coding interest. If you want to introduce to your kids to coding, Scratch is a perfect platform to start from.
2. BLOCKLY
Blockly is a coding language that is very similar to Scratch. It also features the block coding user interface, but it is a bit different. It was designed from already existing coding languages like JavaScript and PHP.
The blockly platform is suitable for kids of 8 years and above to learn how to code. It is straightforward to learn and use, the kids drag and drop blocks of code and arranges them in an orderly manner until they achieve the desired result.
Once you get your result, the system examines your coding from beginning to the end to check for errors. If any is found, it detects it and corrects you.
With Blockly, your kids can easily create mobile games and applications for Java and Android. Although Scratch is a more preferred platform than the Blockly, it is still a nice alternative, and your kids will learn a lot from using it.
3. HTML
HTML is a popular one! You must have probably heard about HTML before. We come across its use every day on the Internet. HTML, an acronym for HyperText Markup Language is the basic coding language needed for coding websites, web pages, and web applications.
It is a text-based coding language that was first introduced in 1993, almost 25 years ago. It’s a pretty easy coding language for your kids to grab.
It works well with HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol), and with HTML your kids can learn how to construct web designs, web images, web sounds, web fonts and a host of other responsive objects you see on websites.
It is a nice start to introduce them to other coding languages also needed for web designing like CSS, JavaScript and PHP which when combined forms a trio of cornerstone technologies for the World Wide Web (WWW).
4. BASIC (VISUAL BASIC)
BASIC/Visual BASIC is both text-based and a visual coding language. Also a straightforward one as well! Your kids will experience very little or no difficulty at all in learning it.
BASIC is an acronym for Beginners All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. The word beginner in the name shows that it is specially designed for beginners like your kids to learn to code.
This coding language was originally designed by two great mathematicians and computer programmers, John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz in 1964. But in 1991 Microsoft updated it into what we now know as Microsoft Visual Basic (VB).
With BASIC, your kids can learn how to write computer syntax codes basically for mathematical calculations and also program simple games.
While the Visual basic teaches them how to code simple and complex Graphic user interface applications (especially for Windows operating system). Your kids will fare well learning this code language.
5. ALICE
This is another block based visual coding language. It was designed to teach people how to code without complexity solely. It was created by a research group lead by Randy Pausch in the University of Virginia in 1994.
The Alice coding language uses the idea of an enclosed state of operations inside blocks and objects. I am using drag and drop. It is fun to learn, looks as though you are playing a game and is sure to attract kids into learning it.
With Alice, kids can learn how to create high-level 3D computer animations. Most high schools even teach the Alice coding language as an Introduction to coding courses.
More interestingly, Alice code files can be easily converted to Java using Netbeans. Alice has so many amazing coding features your kids will enjoy. Who knows, they may even end up coding their own Alice in Wonderland cartoon animation.
6. LUA
Adults and computer professionals mostly use this coding language. It may not be the best bet for programming novices, but I believe kids can equally learn it. As it is easy to comprehend.
Lua is called a lightweight multi-paradigm coding language. It was created mainly for making programs and applications. Lua succeeded in the Simple Object language (SOL) and Data Entry Language (DEL). Its syntax structures were mostly borrowed from Modula, CLU, C++, and it is more of a simpler version of these coding languages. A suitable way for your kids to get introduced to coding.
It is a text-based coding language, and it makes use of common data structures like sets, lists, arrays, and records as its most important component. Lua can be easily embedded into other coding applications as a means of expansion, and it is mostly used for coding of video games. Your kids will love to do that, won’t they?
7. RUBY
Ruby is a coding language that was created with the influence of other coding languages like Ada, Perl, Lisp, and Eiffel. It has a very similar syntax system as some of these coding languages but in a simpler variation.
The Ruby coding language is an object-oriented coding language with dynamic features. This coding language is natural to learn and has a good user interface design. Also, it’s fun and very productive.
Your kids can hardly get confused while learning this coding language as it is said to follow the principle of least astonishment (POLA) according to its developer, Yukihiro “Matz” Matsumoto.
Some see Ruby as a multi-paradigm coding language. It can be a good background for learning other coding languages.
If your kids learn Ruby very well, you can be sure that learning other higher coding languages won’t be that difficult to them
8. SWIFT
This coding language is made for kids that love their IPads and iPhones. Swift is a coding language developed by Apple Inc since the start of 2010. But it was officially released in 2014.
From experience, your kids would enjoy learning how to code with Swift as it is a coding language that can be used for various purposes.
Although it is mainly used for coding simple iOS and MacOS applications and programs, Swift can also be used to code applications in tvOS, Linux and watchOS too. It is easier to grab that the Objective C-code which is the original coding language for Apple products.
Kids from 8 years and above will have no difficulty in learning how to code with Swift, and it is a great start to launch them into the world of coding.
9. PYTHON
Don’t be scared! I’m not talking about the reptile here. Python is a multi-purpose text-based and object-oriented coding language widely used in today’s world.
Python uses whitespace indentation to emphasize code readability. It’s ideal for both small and large scale coding projects. The coding expressions used in Python is similar to that of Java and C.
Although it is a little bit complex to learn, it is a plus if your kid gets to know how to code with Python. With Python, your kids can learn how to code games, animations, websites, applications and more by using fundamental data structures and modules.
In addition to all these, Python is fun to learn, the name “Python” itself was even used as a tribute to Monty Python – A comedy group in the UK. Python is an excellent introduction to coding for kids.
10. PHP
The last but not the least on my list is PHP. PHP is another very popular coding language and outrightly second placed after HTML in web designing and web development.
Millions of internet domains and web servers have PHP installed on them. It is a general purpose coding language and one of the primary code languages being used in the programming world.
It can be embedded into HTML and CSS codes and be used for graphical web applications. PHP can be seen as a server-side script language and can be used to code on almost every operating system.
PHP is text-based but also uses a basic object orientation system for easier implementation. Your kids will find this coding language very interesting and will also find no difficulty in learning and making use of it especially when they have already been introduced to HTML.
To round it all up…..
Think of it, isn’t it funny that your kids will be able to tell the computer what to do? If your kid learns some of the coding languages mentioned above, you will be amazed at what they could do with it.
The thing with coding is that, the more you learn, the more you are driven by the desire to learn more. Check out some of the wealthiest people in our world today, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, Jeff Bezos. They all are great computer programmers, web and application developers.
This further proves the fact that learning code can set you off on the road to a very profitable career. For a kid that starts to learn these coding languages at an early stage, he or she may turn out to code the next life-changing computer system program and become a multi-billionaire, while making the world a better place.