Nowadays, teaching programming for kids is not just a trend. It is as necessary as learning a new language, playing sports or mastering an instrument.
The world is gradually moving into a new, not digital, but virtual reality.
Artificial intelligence is gradually penetrating all spheres of everyday life. To keep up with it, you need to understand the languages of technology and manage it, as well as have both the knowledge and the necessary skills.
Learning to code may help your child succeed in the future by developing valuable skills such as logic, systemic thinking, patience, and setting goals and objectives.
Let’s look at five main reasons for why your child should learn coding.
1. Coding for Kids might help children in their future studies and careers.
Coding is not only the study of code – it is an approach to solving problems and achieving a goal. Before creating a program or application, the programmer writes a technical task based on specific inputs and plans to achieve the set goals. It means that from an early age, the child learns to competently reach the solution to complex tasks, which significantly helps with studying in school and post-secondary education.
Coding is suitable for kids as young as six years old. Modern visual kits like Scratch Junior or Tynker are designed for preschoolers specifically. Indeed, in these programs, kids don’t even need to be able to read to create their first online game or set the character movement algorithm. It is enough to transfer the blocks in a desired sequence.
2. Programming might become a favorite hobby for kids.
Your child doesn’t need to choose a profession in the IT industry. Perhaps they will be much more interested in music, social sciences, or sports.
However, learning to program will give them an understanding of how complex technologies work.
For children who are fond of computer games, learning the basics of coding will help them better understand the structure of their favourite game engines and show opportunities for implementation in the game industry.
Kids can try to create their game worlds in Minecraft Education Edition. This game platform uses the high-level programming languages Lua and Python. In creating online games, children learn the code and how to put it into practice.
3. Programming for kids promotes creativity.
The ability to create your own online game and build a building or the whole world contributes to the development of imagination and stimulates creative thinking in children.
The creator of the Tynker programming language for children, believes creativity can be developed using various programming tools. One of them is Tynker, a programming language and visual environment where even a child can assemble code from blocks in the form of puzzles.
In addition to online games, kids can create cartoons, character animations, or 2D or 3D objects.
While creating their online projects, children express their ideas and reveal their creativity.
4. Coding for Kids helps to make new friends.
Children closely interact with each other by creating an online project, learning to achieve goals together and distributing responsibilities in groups.
Programming in online groups also teaches children to take responsibility for their actions and help others achieve the team goal.
Children who are just starting to learn coding in groups learn how to quickly find a common language and get involved in the overall learning process.
Those who already create their games or applications on their own can easily find a common ground with their peers who are also interested in gaming.
5. Coding for Kids is not a random computer science class.
Coding for Kids is not the typical “computer science” children instinctively avoid at school. Instead, programming is a window into the fascinating world of opportunities and technologies. Programming languages are the tools that allow kids to implement any idea: create an online game, application, program, three-dimensional object, and much more.
Final Thoughts: Why Kids Should Code
Programming is one of the most useful hobbies for your child to adopt, especially since it can help them develop persistence, creativity, and critical thinking. So, invest in their future now.