The fact is that your child may never become interested in coding, just like your kid may never become interested in shooting, ballet, or the fine foods of the Orient. However, coding and most forms of programming can be very dry and a little clinical. It involves sitting in front of a computer for hours, which is something more akin to a teenager’s perfect day rather than a child’s. Nevertheless, if you want to make things a little more fun for kids with the hopes they will embrace coding, then here are a few ideas to get you started, including Roblox coding for kids.
Article Breakdown
Tailor Your Approach to the Child
Let’s start with the biggest misconception about children and what they find fun. People seem to think there is a pattern to what makes things fun for kids. They will say it has to be bold, energetic, entertaining, action-packed, and so forth. This is absolutely untrue by every definition.
Every single child is different. Sure, they are not all special snowflakes, but each is very different and so needs a more tailored approach to how they learn coding. There are kids out there who will run across the road without looking, and there are other kids who will never look up at the sun because they were told by a poster that it burns out the back of their eyes.
Tailor your approach based on your kid’s personality. Try the more foundational stuff like coding concepts and toys or try something a little more clinical in front of a computer. Approach the subject in different ways and find methods for bringing what they learn into the real world.
Try a Coding Course
Perhaps one of the most obvious ways to make coding fun for kids is to actually teach it to them in an engaging way. If you are a programming professor, then you yourself should come up with a lesson plan, games, tutorials, note-taking sessions and so forth. If you are not, then you should try a coding course.
The courses offered by CodeMonkey make a great gift for a techie kid. They have a good mixture of games, courses, tests, tutorials, and learning resources. It is framed in a kid-friendly way and has several soft starts. Take a look at the course and see if it is the sort of thing your child may like. Again, it is all about their personality. Perhaps the games are the sort of thing your kid would like. Otherwise, try a different approach.
Take Part Yourself
Almost any activity is more fun if you are doing it with people you enjoy spending time with. If you are able to take the courses with your child, then that will help make the process more fun. Learning at the same time is a good bonding exercise. On the other hand, if you already know and understand the coding language, then you could take part in the learning process, but pretend like you don’t know the answer to things so that your child feels you are figuring it out together.
Or, as mentioned earlier, you could do the teaching yourself. It is far easier to tailor a session to your child’s personality when you actually know the child. You could create your own courses and lessons that fit with how your child thinks and how your child learns.
Coding Mods for Popular Games
Just remember that some kids are never going to be fans of coding. Also, if you are thinking about using games on bigger platforms, like Roblox and Minecraft, then remember that they may distract your child. Ideally, when your child plays coding games, they are learning to code. However, when they learn how to code “For” games, like making mods for Minecraft and Roblox games, then it is a little different.
You may have a nice time creating a golden axe for your character in Minecraft, but once your kid actually starts playing the game, he or she may become Minecraft fans and lose interest in any sort of coding. This is just something to keep in mind if you are hoping to build enthusiasm through coding for popular games, it doesn’t always work out the way you want.