Explore Code with Gordon!

Gordon is an adventurous individual and our newest Featured Maker! He is nine years old and from South Carolina. He loves to play outside and catch animals. His favorite subject is social studies because he loves to learn about the past!

Gordon loves to code and has been doing it for the past couple years. We got to talk to Gordon and his parents, Chuck and Paige, about his experiences with coding!

How did you get introduced to Tynker and how long have you been coding? I found it in 2nd grade. Our teacher just told us to download it and that it was a good help for education. I didn’t really know how to code much, but then I started in the 3rd grade and started learning more. I got a featured project in the 3rd grade, but I’ve never done the interview.

How did you learn how to use Tynker when you were first starting out? I kind of used some of the tutorials like some of the basic coding to learn how to do some of the coding!

How have your coding skills improved since you started using Tynker? They’ve improved pretty well. I used to only make projects where people would only walk around or talk. But as I learned more about how to do it, I’ve started making more complex games!

How did you feel when you found out your project had been featured? I was happy! I told everyone!

What is your favorite project you’ve made so far? I really liked one game, it was like a clicker game where you would click on something and you would earn points and you can buy other things with those points. It didn’t take that long but I added a lot of new things to it so it took about a couple hours.

Where do you get the idea for your project? From a lot of clicker games and I like playing games in the community. So I decided to try and make one for myself!

How do you get inspiration for your projects? A lot of the time I’m inspired by my pet. It’s a type of gecko, a Leopard Gecko.

“Gecko Simulator (Full Game)”

Why do you like to code? When I found out how to do it better, I just got involved and I haven’t forgotten about the game and I always have it on whatever new device I get!

What is your favorite way to use code? I really like broadcasting because that’s something I learned that really improved!

What do you do with a project when you’re done with it? I usually check to see if there’s some bugs and if I can’t find out, I’ll just put some texts in the beginning about how there are bugs and what to do to prevent them.

What are you planning to make next? No, I haven’t planned much. I do hope to make something good! There’s a lot of ideas in my mind about what I should do next!

What’s the best thing about Tynker? I think it’s a really good way to learn how to code and it’s an easy way, using the blocks of code!

How do you think learning to code has prepared you for the future? I think knowing how to code just in case you might want to be a coder, you might want to have a head start so you will be able to do it better in the future!

Do you think other kids should try coding? Yeah! They don’t have to really know much to get involved, it’s just if they really like coding. Even if they really don’t like coding, it’s a really easy way to learn how to code and that’s a good thing!

What advice would you give to kids starting out with Tynker? I would probably tell them to keep trying until they find the right way. And if they have any trouble I might tell them how to do a couple tricks of coding!

Gordon’s parents, Chuck and Paige, are so excited that Gordon is learning how to code! When we asked Chuck about Gordon’s learning how to code, he told us: “I think it’s pretty rad. I’m actually a software engineer by trade but I have never really pushed Gordon to learn any coding. He has a couple of older brothers that were exposed to computer science early on. He never really took to it, so I just kind of sat back and let him find his own way, and so it is gratifying that he has found it on his own and is enjoying it.” Chuck also told us how coding fosters Gordon’s cognitive ability: “I definitely see it’s helping him with his problem solving and his logic skills, thinking ways through problems. Maybe it’s helped him when he hits barriers, to stop, back up, and think about it a little bit just like you have to do when you’re running code.”

And Paige told us about how learning to code helps Gordon in other ways:  “I see Gordon really getting a sense of self-worth. He and his friends kind of talk about the things they do and it gives them a real competitive thing going on at school. Since he doesn’t play any sports it’s cool for me to see that competitive edge coming out in him. Gordon has said he taught his friend how to code on Tynker and now his friend has surpassed his ability and now they’re racing each other back and forth!” Chuck mentioned that he likes the Tynker layout: “With it being very object-oriented, it’s very easy for him to visualize the path that he’s trying to put forward using Tynker. The way that’s laid out is really great, the way it helps build-up that recognition of the object paradigm behind coding.”

It was such a pleasure to speak with Gordon, Paige, and Chuck and to learn about Gordon’s experience with coding! We’d like to thank you for interviewing with us, and we can’t wait to see more of Gordon’s projects!