Coding for Kids
Featured Maker Isabella: Code-a-Thon Winner and Future NASA Scientist!
We’re very excited to feature Isabella, who was one of our Wild Minecraft Code-a-Thon winners! Her winning project is a beautiful flamingo Minecraft mob, and she’s made many other great projects with code, like ‘Spooky Pixel Art.’ Isabella lives in Australia and wants to work for NASA when she grows up! With great grades in math and science, a love of coding, and creativity, Isabella is well on her way to that career goal.
In her free time, she loves to code, draw pictures (especially of animals!), swim, and play soccer. We had the opportunity to learn more about Isabella’s participation in this year’s Code-a-Thon and why she thinks learning to code is important. Read on to learn more!
How did you find out about Tynker? At school last year my teacher showed me a coding website called Hour of Code. I played a dragon game. And then when I finished one of the levels, it brought me to Tynker.
What inspired you to make your winning Code-a-Thon project? I think it was the wetlands project we were working on, and I searched up wetland animals, and then I remember I saw a flamingo standing in the wetlands.
‘Flamingo’
What are some of your other favorite projects? Probably the Spooky Pixel Art one. Otherwise it’s Space Invaders.
‘Spooky Pixel Art’
What’s your favorite thing about Tynker? Making Minecraft animals. I just like everything. It’s really really good!
What advice do you have for kids starting out with Tynker? Check out Hour of Code, it’s great for beginners.
Do you think other kids should try coding? Yeah, they should start coding because then they’ll learn to code and they’ll create something awesome.
We also had the chance to speak with Isabella’s parents, Ian and Rebeccah, about Isabella’s experiences with Tynker and this year’s Code-a-Thon. Ian told us: “I’m actually quite happy she’s getting into coding. Everything’s changing with the jobs that are out there. Coding’s definitely an industry that’s going to continue to grow in the future.”
Ian noted that even though Isabella has a variety of coding options to choose from, she prefers working in Tynker: “Despite having put a few programs onto her laptop, she’s never left Tynker. She’s looked at them, but she’s always come back to Tynker.”
Coding has provided Isabella and her younger brothers with something they can bond over, as Rebeccah told us: “This sort of thing has helped her bond with her brothers. She has no problem saying ‘Oh come here, and I’ll show you how to do this.’ Then they want to go off and try how to do it. She’s a very good teacher.”
And Ian told us that he’s seen coding help Isabella develop her persistence: “She spends a little bit of time researching. I’ve noticed that if she can’t get something right away, she doesn’t give the idea away or give up. Her tenacity, it’s there; if she gets her focus on a project, she wants to finish it.”
Rebeccah and Ian both see Tynker as a tool that has empowered Isabella to learn coding independently. Rebeccah told us: “I think the Tynker program is awesome! The things that she’s showing me she can do, it’s not something that we did as kids, and it’s just amazing where the technology is going. It’s great that Tynker is user-friendly for children. It’s something that is easy for kids to start and understand.”
Ian added: “Everything she has learned about coding, she has learned on Tyner itself or at school. If it wasn’t for her persistence, she wouldn’t be where she is. Tynker itself has made it easy for her, so that’s a definite positive.”
Isabella, Rebeccah, and Ian were excited about Isabella being a Code-a-Thon winner and are loving this year’s prizes!
We’re so glad we had the opportunity to speak with Isabella and her parents! We can’t wait to see Isabella’s future projects and see how she gets involved with NASA someday!
Be sure to participate in next year’s Code-a-Thon for the chance to get creative with coding and win great prizes.
