Coding for Kids
Featured Maker: Addie Wants To Be an Interior Designer!
Meet our newest Featured Maker, 4th grader Addie from West Virginia! She likes to draw and play the ukulele, and when she gets older she’d like to be an interior designer. Awesome! Addie recently spoke with us about her experience coding with Tynker.
How did you get introduced to Tynker?
Friends. I’m like, what’s that? And they’re like, oh, this is Tynker. You can code on it or whatever. I’ve probably been using it for like a year and a half.
How did you learn to use Tynker?
I just kind of looked at things in the community, but then I started taking the lessons.
How did you feel when you found out your project had been featured?
I felt like telling everyone and screaming!
What’s your favorite project you’ve made so far?
The one that got me featured, my Elephant Dress-Out. I like it because I really play it all the time. And I’m like, it would be cool if I took this drawing I made and then drew a bunch of accessories for it and published it.
How do you get inspiration for your projects?
I get it from the community a lot. Sometimes I just kind of make up things, like, oh, this would be cool to make.
Why do you like to code?
I just think it’s a really fun thing to do. And I think it’s a helpful skill.
What do you do with a project when you’re done with it?
I publish it, but then I keep improving and improving until I think this is perfect, and I can’t do anything else.
What are you planning to make next?
I’m probably going to try to make a game where you can interior design, but I think that might take a while.
What’s the best thing about Tynker?
So what’s the best thing about Tinker— Everything. Yes, I really like it. It’s fun. It’s easy to use, and it teaches you.
Has learning to code prepared you for the future?
I think some things would just be easier if I coded with them, instead of having to do some other complicated way. And I just think it would also be fun to do every once in a while.
Do you think other kids should try coding?
Oh yeah, 100%. It’s just super fun and there’s really no limits because you can do different things all over.
What advice would you give to kids starting out with Tynker?
Try doing lessons first.
What’s your favorite subject in school?
Reading and art. Well, reading, it’s just really easy for me. I’ve never actually had a problem with that. And I like art because you can just express your feelings without actually having to say anything is beautiful.
Bonus: What’s a fun fact about you?
I play a lot of sports. I do swimming, basketball, and baseball.
Parent Questions
Addie’s mother, Angela, spoke with us about her daughter learning to code with Tynker:
I can’t even believe it most of the time. When I was a girl you just took a paper doll and put clothes on. And, I was just so impressed with everything. She has so many interests. She’s artistic. She’s athletic. The coding has really started. She’s really been getting into it this year.
What benefits do you think coding has for her?
There’s got to be math, there’s reading. There’s just being able to pay attention to detail. There’s putting your time and energy into something and seeing it all the way through. It’s the ability that she can go in and if she doesn’t like something, she can modify it and make it better. It’s just constantly growing for her potential. So I think it’s perfect for that.
Do you feel that Addie is better prepared for the future?
Oh, yeah, way more than I am. I think about that all the time.
How do you support her coding endeavors?
Typically, we don’t allow a lot of screen time or a lot of apps because she and her brother are both involved in three sports. And we live on a farm, and we have chickens and all that sort of stuff.
But lately, with her getting into coding, we were like, okay, you can get the app not just at school, you can get it at home. You can have a tablet to work on this stuff. And I think that her skills have definitely improved since we’ve done that.
Thank you!
We want to thank Addie and her mother for taking the time to speak with us about coding with Tynker. We can’t wait to see what she creates next – HAPPY CODING!
