Five Awesome Websites for Kids (and Parents!) to Learn Coding

Technology dominates our lives in just about every facet, and coding is on the fast-track to becoming the new Blue Collar job prospect in the near future.

Coding skills have dominated STEM curriculums just about everywhere. But school isn’t the only place where kids—and their curious parents—can learn how to write an app. In fact, workers who can demonstrate even just basic coding skills are already getting a leg up in the working world across multiple industries.

That said, here are five awesome coding websites to get starting programming today:

1: Code.org

Code.org is one of the more well-known sites and has been around for the past five years since going live in 2013. The website is designed to offer teachers course curriculum in computer sciences for schools—however it also includes tutorials for various activities including creating apps and interactive games.

2: Codecademy

Codecademy is the one-stop-shopping website for learning how to code as it offers courses in 12 different programming languages including Python, Java, JavaScript, Ruby, SQL, Sass, and more. While the site boasts freemium access—meaning you can only access limited material for each course and will have to pay for full access—it also offers programs that teach job-ready skills for $199 each. Among others, these include building websites, designing front-end apps, and building web APIs, among a host of others.

3: Tynker

Tynker is an educational coding platform designed for children to learn how to build apps and games using an intuitive drag-and-drop GUI. The platform uses the Scratch visual programming language along with HTML5 and JavaScript, allowing it to run directly from a browser as well as Apple’s iPad and Android-based devices. Tynker offers courses under a tiered payment system (with access to all materials), including $16 per month (billed quarterly), $6 per month (billed annually) and $150 for lifetime access.

4: Khan Academy

Khan Academy is different from most other programming platforms as it’s more of an addendum to their YouTube instructional videos. Each course includes featured ‘talk-throughs’ to outline and explain the details for that particular programming language, which include SQL, HTML/CSS, JS, among others. Students can pause tutorials as needed to edit code, then take coding challenges immediately after to test their newly-acquired knowledge.

5: LightBot

LightBot is a game where users learn programming while they play with the goal of guiding a little robot through a maze and switch on different colored lights. Instead of typing out code directly to move the robot, players use a form of programming logic using symbols for input commands. For example, to move the robot forward, players input ‘forward()’—or to turn right, simply type ‘turnright()’. The LightBot app costs $2.99 and is available for iOS and Android devices.

These are just a handful of coding websites for efficiently teaching kids (and adults!) to learn how to program. While some lean more towards the strictly educational side, others incorporate more of a gaming style. Each has their own merit and are designed to make it easy for kids to understand the underlying mechanics behind programming.

So what are you waiting for? Go build something!

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