Coding for Kids
Meet our newest Featured Maker, 13-year-old Andrew from Illinois! He likes doing 3D art and he’s been doing a lot of 3D printing recently to make plastic 3D models. Awesome! Andrew recently spoke with us about his experience coding with Tynker.
What’s your favorite subject in school?
Biology. I like it a lot. And it’s also easier than math.
Did you like Tynker’s Coding Cup?
Yeah, it was really fun to try to see how many games you could do per minute and that kind of thing.
What was your favorite thing about the Coding Cup?
Probably the reward, the money behind it.
That’s great. So what did your team look like?
Well, the striker was supposed to look like my brother Aaron, and the defender is supposed to look like me, and the goalie was supposed to look like Alexander, our other brother. But I’m not quite sure how well the haircuts matched up.
This is a gif of their team:
For our jersey, Aaron likes blue. I really like red, and Alexander really likes green. So we went for a red, blue, and green Jersey, and since there was the least red on the uniform that we chose, I drew a red R on it for the Rockford Alligators.
How long did it take for your team to get on the leaderboard?
For us to get on the leaderboard, it probably took a day or two to get close, and then it would take a really long time going back and forth up and down the leaderboard and stuff.
What was your favorite code block that you used?
My favorite code block that we used the most was equals because it’s always nice in math to write down equals and then the answer, and then you’re done with the question.
Do you think other kids should compete in Tynker’s next Coding Cup?
Yeah, I think they should because it’s definitely a challenge, and you learn a lot about AI and stuff like that.
Very cool. So how did you get introduced to Tynker?
I got introduced to Tynker when mom and dad bought the lifetime subscription for me as a birthday present, probably when I was around four or five.
That’s amazing. You have great parents. How did you learn to use Tynker?
I did a Tynker course. The one we started out on was Goblin Quest. That looked really interesting for us because we really liked fantasy and stuff like that. And it was a really good introduction to Tynker block coding and stuff like that.
Have your coding skills improved since you started using Tynker?
Well, my coding skills have certainly improved very greatly since I started using Tynker.
How did you feel when you found out your soccer projects had been featured?
When I found out that our soccer team had gotten featured, it was pretty cool because we stayed up late and stuff. It was really relieving that we actually got something good out of it.
That’s great. So what’s your favorite project you’ve made so far?
My favorite project I’ve made so far is an Endless Runner kind of game that I made for Aaron, where your spaceship is around the side of the screen, and it moves up and down trying to avoid asteroids and bump into things and give him coins and stuff. I added a lot of things you can bump into and a lot of different asteroids and stuff. And that was pretty cool, so I think that was probably my favorite.
How do you get inspiration for your projects?
I think for inspiration when I see something like a Tynker tutorial and then try to make it better, or I see another game, and I try to do that in Tynker because I think it looks cool, or I just imagine them all by myself.
That’s great. Why do you like to code?
Well, it’s certainly fun.
So do you have a favorite code block?
My favorite way to use code is definitely making games because I like making games so overall my favorite code block is probably the forever because I like the loop stuff.
What do you do with a project when you’re done with it?
I play it for a while and then move on to another project or give it to someone in the case of birthday presents and let them play it.
Oh, that’s nice. So what are you planning to make next?
I was trying to make a dragon knight game where there’s endless dragons. You’re running at a wall, and you’re trying to kill them before they reach the wall. And the farther you go away from the wall, the more dragons come towards your wall. And you try to see how long you can last.
That sounds complicated, but I think you can do it for sure.
Probably.
So what’s the best thing about Tynker?
The best thing about Tynker is probably how the professional programs are getting block coding like substances and stuff.
Do you think learning to code has prepared you for the future?
Well, everything is moving to computerized trends and stuff. Everything is getting made on the computer. And it’s very useful to know how a program works in case it crashes and you need to fix it or something.
Or in my case, if I was a 3D designer, I would have to know how the programmers are going to use it to help them, and it may help me to know how the programmers are going to do what they’re going to do so I can make the model easier for them to use.
Excellent. What advice would you give to kids starting with Tynker?
I would say probably do one of the courses like Goblin Quest first. And then do one of the tutorials where you make a project. And then try to improve on that project.
Thank you so much, Andrew. You did a fantastic job.
Parent Questions
Andrew’s father, Nathan, spoke with us about his sons coding with Tynker:
They’re learning a lot, and surprising me how well they can program and how creative they are in their ideas. I think they’ve done a great job and have been progressing from little kids all the way up to big teenagers now.
What benefits do you think coding has for them?
Well, I think they’ve learned a lot of logic and understand how things work and can think through problems, even if they’re not in the computer but just think logically. And they use programming a lot too to solve problems or to do math or different things they want to do, play games. So they use it a lot in their free time and for fun.
Do you feel that they’re better prepared for the future?
Yeah. I think so. I think they’ve learned skills that they can use professionally if they want to, or they could just have the ability to make programs for their own and just use it to help them do something more quickly than they could otherwise.
I think programming has a lot of uses in many different ways. And it’s an important part of our modern society to be able to understand computers and programming. I think they’re really well-equipped for the future.
Absolutely. How do you support their coding endeavors?
We give them time to use Tynker and to have fun and also learn things at the same time. So we encourage them to do that. And we have set times where they can use Tynker and either do some courses or just have fun and make something. So we like to encourage them to do Tynker whenever they have the opportunity.
That’s fantastic. What do you think of Tynker?
I think Tynker is great. I’ve been very impressed with how fun it is and how the kids can make some really impressive programs and games pretty easily. And it’s got a lot of good media assets built in, and you can make some pretty nice-looking animations and graphics with very little knowledge of graphic arts and those things.
So I think that it’s a really good tool to be able to not just learn the basic principles of programming but be able to actually make something that is really cool looking. So that’s I think one of the best benefits of Tynker, that it’s very professional and very well designed to make good-looking programs. And I think they’ve learned a lot with block coding.
Thank you. Those are all the questions I have for you. You guys did a great job as a family. It was so great meeting you all.
Nice to meet you too.
We want to thank Andrew and his father for taking the time to speak with us about coding with Tynker. Like Andrew, you can create your very own projects for free on Tynker. HAPPY CODING!
