Featured Maker: Fatimah Loves Art and Music!

Meet our newest Featured Maker, 4th grader Fatimah from Kitchener, Canada! Her favorite thing to do in Tynker is art. She also loves to sing and made a musical piano in Tynker. Fatimah recently talked with us about her experiences coding with Tynker and being a Tynker Code Jam winner!

How did you get introduced to Tynker?

I’ve been coding for almost a year. Once, I was playing games, and then my dad told me all about Tynker and I really wanted to try it. So the moment I started coding, I had a lot of fun. And then I coded a lot. And then I heard of the Summer Code Jam and then I entered. I had a lot of fun making all these different projects!

How did you learn to use Tynker?

So first, I did a blank project because I thought that would help me understand what all the blocks mean. And then they have these gaming things where they give you instructions but then like some things you have to do yourself so I really like doing those.

And then my first project, it was actually pretty simple. It was like, words. I actually discovered them and they told me how to use them. And then my favorite was to use the draw pen because I think that’s very satisfying to watch.

Have your coding skills improved since you started using Tynker?

Last year, I really just used the On Start and Say Hello and stuff. This year, I’m more into the pens!

How did you feel when you found out that your Code Jam project had won?

It was amazing! My whole family was shouting. My mom didn’t even know about it! I tried to tell her about it a million times and she was like, “Seriously!? Why didn’t you tell me!?”

Do you plan to participate in other Tynker Code Jams?

Yes! I love doing Code Jam challenges. 

What are you going to do with your prize money?

Save it, or I’m going to go shopping at the mall. That’s like the number one thing I do, go shopping. I like clothing shops like Justice. Justice is like my store. It has all those squishies and then it has clothes and fluffy shirts. I love fluffy shirts.

What is your favorite project you’ve made so far?

I actually made a fortune teller and that was so fun to make.  

Where did you get the idea for your project?

My dad’s like, “You’re making so many of these art things, why don’t you make something interactive? Why don’t you just make a fortune-teller? You’re making too much art!” And then my mom and dad tried it and they had so much fun. It asks you questions and then you get to type in your answer and that was really cool for me.

Why do you like to code?

Because block coding is so fun. On Tynker. It’s so fun and easy. Sometimes it gets tricky, but the tricky stuff I already learned before because they give me so many tips.

What do you do with a project when you’re done with it?

I usually ask my parents if I could show it to the [Tynker] community. And sometimes I usually add details, like music and stuff to the background. But mostly I just save it and share with the community. Like all my friends and family like watching it. 

What are you planning to make next?

Probably I’m going to make a baking project because I have chef projects and I really want to make one of those. I’d have this menu of what you make, then you make it and you’ll get all the measurements by tapping them and stuff. I really want to do that!

What’s the best thing about Tynker?

There are a lot of great things about Tynker but the best one is because when you play around with everything you turn out with something that’s never a fail. 

Is there anything we should change or add to Tynker?

Probably blank blocks where you can type in where you want. I just really want that.

What’s your favorite subject in school?

Probably gym or art or math! With art you pretty much do anything you want. And then our teacher actually sets up some really cool stuff like painting and that stuff. I have a lot of art supplies and I always like to make this cool art thing.

And baking? Because it’s just fun to decorate cookies and stuff. And I love measuring and pouring and mixing and stuff. And I love playing with dough. It’s really fun. That’s why I love making cookies.

How do you think learning to code has prepared you for the future?

My dad really wants me to be a computer scientist like him. 

Do you think other kids should try coding?

It’s just so fun! Placing the blocks and watching your project and fixing things. I just really like doing that. It’s really fun. When you build your games, you can play them by yourself. I made lots of games! I started off by making games.

My dad saw my game on Twitter and I was so excited because Tynker actually liked it. It was a fishy game where you can’t touch the shark. I also love doing Minecraft projects, those are just so fun. I figured out Minecraft when I started making things in Tynker. 

What advice would you give kids starting out with Tynker?

I’d give them one of those instruction projects because they tell you where to place the blocks. And then usually I just put the blocks where they tell me to and then I go through my code until I understand it. When you’re really good at the tutorials and stuff, I think you should do blank projects by yourself. I like Brick Breaker.

Bonus: What’s a fun fact about you?

You know those art things where you do a bunch of flowers on paper? I really like doing that. I like math problems and I love coding!

Fatimah’s father, Shadid, spoke to us about his daughter coding with Tynker.

There’s such a variety of projects. And I basically let her pick whatever she wants. And she’s into art and baking, right, she was talking about making a baking app. I looked into a few of these, but I love Tynker the most because of the variety and the ease of you know, the visualization of code. So, that really struck the right note with me.

How do you support her coding endeavors?

I just tickled her every now and then to do some more. But yeah, she’s pretty excited. So, that’s a positive thing. I want to, you know, encourage her in every way possible.

I think what I’m trying to encourage is to try to apply the math she is learning at school or elsewhere, and then maybe make some fun stuff. The art project that she won for, I think that has some math involved.

And, you know, some of them happened by accident for her. I don’t think she gets the full math of that. But, you know, I think applying the math she’s learning at school and her ideas about art and music. She’s into music, as well. So, I’m doing everything I can to convert her art and music skills to coding. Hopefully, she will become an engineer.

Thank you!

We want to thank Fatimah and her dad for taking the time to speak with us about coding with Tynker. We’re looking forward to more projects from Fatimah – HAPPY CODING!