Teaching Kids to Code Has Never Been So Easy

Code.org isn’t messing around this year. As part of its Hour of Code Campaign, its homepage features individual tutorials with varying themes — ones that children (and some adults) are sure to be crazy about. Frozen-, Minecraft-, and Star Wars-themed tutorials are all available for free on Code.org to help introduce kids to the world of JavaScript.

The tutorials designed are much less intimidating compared to the blank screen I was placed in front of when first learning how to code. It’s a friendly design that allow kids to experiment with the concept of JavaScript through a system called “Blockly.” Kids can drag and drop commands into the coding space and see how their commands affect the characters on a virtual screen.

The entire project is part of the Hour of Code Campaign, which is pushing hour-long tutorials to help kids and adults learn the fundamentals of coding and perhaps get them interested in learning more. There’s a need to get more people interested in programming. Ideas, nowadays, are executed through code.

The thought of learning how to code may seem intimidating, but Code.org and its contributors have helped get over that major hurdle by wrapping it up in beloved characters and shows. Half the battle is making the world of coding look more accessible, and Code.org has done that in its presentation and in creating a visually engaging system to drive home the concepts. 

As Larry Wall would say, coding is like writing a recipe for creating a dish, a very, very detailed recipe.

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Natalie has been writing professionally for about 6 years. After graduating from Ithaca College with a degree in Feature Writing, she snagged a job at PCMag.com where she had the opportunity to review all the latest consumer gadgets. Since then she has become a writer for hire, freelancing for various websites. In her spare time, you may find her riding her motorcycle, reading YA novels, hiking, or playing video games. Follow her on Twitter: @nat_schumaker

Photo Credit: Frank Bienewald / Contributor/ Getty