Creative Carter Draws Inspiration From Other Coders!

Fourth grader Carter is nine (and a half!) and lives in Escondido, California, where he attends Quantum Academy. He enjoys playing the piano, Minecraft, and “reading – definitely reading.” We thought his project Cooking Delight 2 was really fun to play, so we wanted to learn more about why he loves to code and what inspires him.

What’s your favorite subject in school? Coding! I got introduced to it by a program called Explore Elements at my school. Explore is try something new – do something you’ve never done before – whereas Element is the complete opposite, something you’re ready to dive into. Coding was my first choice for one of the Explore classes!

What do you want to be when you grow up? Well, I have many things I’m thinking about – this one came in recently – Disney Imagineer. And then this one’s been around for awhile – scientist! There’s a bunch of others, but those are two major ones.

How long have you been using Tynker? Three months, maybe four.

What is your favorite thing you’ve made? I just recently made two new projects after Cooking Delight 2, but probably still Cooking Delight 2.

Where do you get ideas for where to make projects? Well, Cooking Delight came from another featured project – Cooking Grandpa. From there, I was inspired to make my own version of the game, and Cooking Delight came out, and it was horrible! I added a bunch of new features and new characters and other stuff to make Cooking Delight 2.

Do you look at the Tynker community projects? Yes, I do enjoy that. I like to get some new inspiration, or just see what’s in there!

What’s your favorite feature in Tynker? It’s very open. You can create your own project – you don’t just have to follow courses. There’s also some templates that can help you with elements of games.

Is there anything you’re working on currently? Well, I just finished today a boss battle game based off of my own really version of an Undertail boss fight I had found.

What do you do with a project when you’re done with it? I play it a few times probably, show my friends and family, and then I usually publish it.

Why do you like to code? Because you can be creative with it and make whatever you want.

Do you think other kids should try coding? Yes! It’s very enjoyable, and you can also express yourself. Same thing with Minecraft – it’s also very expressive.

What advice would you give for kids starting out with Tynker? Start with the basics I think. Like figure out how to use the move this many pixels commands, and stuff that’s not too advanced before you go into sensing and quiz mechanics, and the if then and else add blocks.

Carter’s dad Chad thinks it’s awesome Carter is learning to code. He told us, “I I was very into computers when I was younger, so I think it’s great [that he’s gettting] into something a little more technical than just playing games.” For Chad, coding is beneficial for kids because “it probably gets them to think a little more.” Carter’s mom Tracy told us she thinks coding “gets them ready for the work force they’re approaching, and helps them be problem solvers.”

We couldn’t agree more. Thank you so much for chatting with us, Carter, Chad, and Tracy! We’re so glad coding has been such a fun hobby for you, Carter – we can’t wait to see more of your creative projects. Keep Tynkering!