Coding for Kids
Meet our newest Featured Maker, 8th grader Aly from the United Arab Emirates. He likes building with Legos, assembling jigsaw puzzles, coding courses, and reading books. Aly spoke with us about his experience coding with Tynker:
How did you get introduced to Tynker?
So my computing teacher introduced me to the platform. Since then I’ve been an active user of the site. I’ve actually been coding for over four years now.
How did you learn to use Tynker when you were first starting out?
It was actually pretty simple. I already had a few years of experience with coding. So figuring things out wasn’t too difficult, but then also the courses available really help.
Have your coding skills improved since you started using Tynker?
Yeah, I definitely have improved my coding skills. I managed to build upon them with the available courses, and I managed to learn lots of new things from the text coding courses that are available. I’ve managed to learn Python, JavaScript, and HTML.
How did you feel when you found out your project had been featured?
The first time my projects got featured was in Summer Code Jam 2020 last year, and I was really excited and proud of myself. This year was the same reaction, if not even more exciting!
What’s your favorite project you’ve made so far?
Honestly, I love all my projects the same. One would be my week six winning project this year, the project with the title of Playball Cannonball. Yeah, it was the first time I actually experimented with function block, and I even created my own physics engine with it. Generally, it was a really fun project to create.
Where did you get the idea for your project?
Surprisingly, I just woke up one day with the idea for the project and just got to tinkering and created the project.
How long did it take you to complete your project?
About 2 days!
Have you done a Tynker Code Jam before?
Yes!
Are you going to do other Tynker Code Jam Challenges?
Yes!
How do you get inspiration for your projects?
I usually get inspiration for projects by playing other people’s projects on Tynker and coming up with my own ideas. I also enjoy watching YouTube game developers, creating their own projects and games for Code Jam.
Why do you like to code?
I enjoy coding because I can bring all my ideas to life. And there’s really no limit.
What’s your favorite way to use code?
I think my favorite code block is the functions block because I can really create my own blocks using that. I can really create anything I have in mind.
What do you do with a project when you’re done with it?
Once I finish a project, I usually present it and play it to my family to get feedback and improve it even more before finally submitting.
What are you planning to make next?
I don’t really have an exact idea in mind. I especially enjoy, you know, recreating those famous video games.
What’s the best thing about Tynker?
I think the thing that really stood out to me about Tynker compared to other platforms is that it has so many of our courses, as well as Tynker has its own physics engine and an augmented reality engine, and you can code your own microbit with Tynker. There’s so many features that are available there that aren’t really on other platforms.
Has learning to code prepared you for the future?
I think it really has prepared me for the future because in my opinion most jobs will require some sort of experience with coding in one way or another.
Do you think other kids should try coding?
Honestly, yeah. Other kids really should try coding because, as I said before, this generation of children will have to start learning coding because jobs in the future will require some sort of experience with it. Also, coding is just a fun way to enhance your imagination and creativity. And, honestly, any kid of any age could start learning it. Nobody is really too young or too old.
What advice would you give to kids starting out with Tynker?
Honestly, just have fun. Tynker is all about creating projects and bringing your ideas to life, whether it’s an animation or game, or even a Minecraft model or anything else. It’s all about just having fun and having the best time you can possibly have, making the project.
What’s your favorite subject in school?
I think English literature.
Bonus: What’s a fun fact about you?
Surprisingly, I’m really fast at typing. My recorded typing speed is 129 words per minute!
Do you like to code and will you keep learning more about coding?
Yes, today I finished a new course. I’m currently working on a few of the advanced text coding and block coding courses.
Parent Questions
Aly’s mother, Nadia, spoke with us about her son learning to code with Tynker:
I’m really really happy with his progress in coding. Actually, it was a surprise for me. I found out that he’s really good at it last year when he started winning competitions.
First, here in the UAE on a national level and then he won another international competition. He won a prize. And then last summer, he won two times in Tynker Summer Code Jam. And this summer, he won again two times. Yeah, so exciting that now the whole family is excited about Tynker’s Code Jam.
We’re all sharing happiness because he’s very happy with his achievement. What I really love about Tynker is that he uses it completely independently and learns entirely on his own, which is great, and now he already knows more about coding than anyone in our family.
How do you support Aly’s coding endeavors?
I completely support him in his coding, like during the Summer Code Jam I was encouraging him to try harder, especially when he was facing some difficulties.
I’m very happy that he didn’t give up. He actually won two consecutive times and week five and week six so that’s really amazing. So when he shows me his projects. I always give him my honest feedback. And I realized that he’s already quite good at block coding so I have been encouraging him to get out of his comfort zone and learn text coding with Tynker’s courses.
What benefits do you think coding has for him?
I think it has benefits for him. First of all, It teaches him that he needs to pay more attention to details because sometimes one small mistake in his code makes the whole project not work properly. It teaches him patience and perseverance. And also, I think coding has helped him in all subjects involving logical thinking and creativity.
And, surprisingly, I’ve noticed great progress in his writing. I’ve been really surprised with his progress in English literature and writing. Over the past year, I noticed the big progress in his English literature and writing class, so yeah I think coding helps, directly and indirectly, in many subjects and areas.
Do you feel that Aly is better prepared for the future?
Yes, definitely. In our world of technology and globalization, I think coding is the language of the future and being able to understand and use it will be essential for many jobs in the future. So, I think all kids need to be literate in coding.
Thank you!
We want to thank Aly and his mother for taking the time to speak with us about coding with Tynker. We can’t wait to see what Aly creates next – HAPPY CODING!
