Coding for Kids
Meet our newest Featured Maker, 5th grader Emma from Washington! She likes to make video games and wants to make a career out of it. She also likes to draw animals and people! Emma talked with us about her experience coding with Tynker:
How did you get introduced to Tynker?
We would do dragon spells in school. And then I found out that I can make my own games. And then I started doing that!
What are your favorite Tynker courses or tutorials?
I like the Mother’s Day card one!
Have your coding skills improved since you started using Tynker?
I would use those tutorials to kind of get the idea of how to use it and then I started knowing what each block meant, and then I could make games!
How did you feel when you found out your project had been featured?
I was really happy! I woke up my mom and told her!
What’s your favorite project you’ve made so far?
Care for a Cat. It took me a long time, and I finally got to have all these bugs fixed. So, you’re able to play with it and name it. The naming part was kind of hard, but then it worked, and then the character could actually say the name!
Where did you get the idea for your project?
I got the idea from my cats!
How do you get inspiration for your projects?
Sometimes, I’ll think of an idea and I’ll look on the community board to see if someone has made something like it!
Why do you like to code?
It’s just fun, and I like seeing how I like playing video games, and then I see that I’ve actually made my own!
What do you do with a project when you’re done with it?
I show it to my mom and dad and they’ll think of ideas sometimes and then I’ll publish it!
What are you planning to make next?
I want to make a soccer game, where it says like, player one it’s your turn. And then they keep trying to get a goal into the other person’s goal that says, it’s time for the next player to play!
What’s the best thing about Tynker?
I just really like it! It’s just fun to be able to make games!
What are some of your hobbies?
I like to listen to music and play outside. I like a lot of punk music.
How do you think learning to code has prepared you for the future?
If I learn the basics of coding then I can get onto JavaScript. And then I can make a bunch of real games and I can get a lot of money for it!
Do you think other kids should try coding?
Yes! It’s fun!
What advice would you give to kids starting with Tynker?
Start with the tutorials and then learn what it means and then start thinking of different ideas, make your own, and then you can publish it, and it’ll be a good game!
Bonus: What’s a fun fact about you?
I can cook! I like making burgers and mac and cheese!
Emma’s dad, Tony, talked with us about his daughter learning to code with Tynker:
I think it’s awesome. Like, I mean, this would probably have been my dream job as a kid, you know, and I do work with computers now, but you know not in a creative way, more of a detail and fixing kind of way. But it’s really cool to see her doing something so creative, and I think that with making games and apps and whatnot, there’s so many levels of things that you learn.
You learn math, and it’s like learning a different language. It’s just such a combination of all the different sciences in one spot. So, it’s great, and I think it’s awesome. She likes to draw too so it’s definitely working out both sides of the brain.
How do you support her coding endeavors?
So, I tried to kind of tee up little ideas every now and then, like, hey, this could be cool if this was a game. And then, as far as like, how it’s affected her, I mean she’s using all kinds of terminology that you just don’t hear people use very much, talking about variables and that kind of stuff.
What benefits do you think coding has for Emma?
Like I mentioned earlier about math, and I know that when I was in like junior high or so when I started kind of getting into it, I couldn’t necessarily connect the dots as to like why this was going to be useful. And it’s really cool to see at such a young age you can know how to connect the dots because this is something that you can actually use in the real world.
Do you feel that she’s better prepared for the future?
Everything is smart now, everything has some kind of software or chip that runs it, so, yeah, I just think in many aspects of life, it helps.
Thank you!
We want to thank Emma and her dad for taking the time to speak with us about coding with Tynker. We can’t wait to see what Emma creates next – HAPPY CODING!
