Coding for Kids
Future actress Sadie draws coding inspiration from her hobbies!
Sadie is in 5th grade and lives in New York, New York. She’s eleven years old and really enjoys sewing and singing – she sings in a choir and at school, and particularly enjoys pop music. We really liked her creative and colorful projects, so we spoke with her to learn more about her and what inspires her to code!
What’s your favorite subject in school? Well, most schools don’t have this, but mine has costume design and I love taking it. It’s really fun. They have like, a million sewing machines and teach you how to make basically everything. We do costumes for the school plays, so some of them are completely random – there was a clown costume we had to make and we sewed a princess costume.
What do you want to be when you grow up? Either a singer or an actress. I’ve been in a bunch of plays – one of them was the school play – so I designed the costumes for the school play that I was in.
How did you get introduced to Tynker? My dad showed me. After school, he wanted me to do something sort of educational instead of watching TV, so he found coding things. I was too advanced for one of them, so he found Tynker. I started that one, and that one I loved.
How long have you been using Tynker? A year, maybe a year and a half.
How did you figure out how to code with Tynker? For a while, I started by doing the projects that are set up for me, and through that I learned what the blocks do. If I had questions my dad would help me, so I just got used to the blocks by using that, and then I came up with my own things.
How do you get ideas for your projects? Well, it starts with things that I like. If I like a particular performance, then I might code a scene from that performance. Things that I like, I just start coding them.
Do you look at the Tynker community projects? Yes, I look at that all the time. I like what other people also come up with it – it gives me ideas for my own projects.
What’s your favorite feature in Tynker? I love the little characters you can use, and the actors you can paste on. I love that you can draw your own.
What is your favorite thing you’ve made? Probably my cake one, but I’m working on a dress up one that I really like.
What do you do with a project when you’re done with it? If I like it, I’ll usually expand it. Once I’m done, I’ll publish it.
Why do you like to code? I can basically do anything and share any story that I want, just by using little code blocks. I find that really fun.
Do you think other kids should try coding? Yeah, because if they have cool ideas for things they want to do but they can’t get out on paper or anything, then it’s always easy to code things.
What advice would you give for kids starting out with Tynker? They should start by getting used to the blocks, and then come up with their own ideas and using the blocks they’ve learned. Start simple, and then get more complex.
Sadie’s mom Brook thinks it’s fantastic that Sadie is learning to code! She believes that coding “is a skill that is going to become increasingly important, and it’s also obviously really fun for her. Her younger sister enjoys it also.” Sadie told us that her sister has made a few projects of her own, saying, “Whenever she needs help, she’s like, “Sadie! How does this block work?”
Brook also noted the educational benefits of coding: “It’s great problem-solving, it’s creative, it’s helpful in developing spatial skills and analyzing problems – it’s great.
We love that you think Sadie’s coding hobby is so beneficial, Brook. Thank you so much for chatting with us, Sadie and Brook. Sadie – your projects amaze us, and we can’t wait to see more! Keep Tynkering!
