Coding for Kids
Future Engineer Usman is a Coding Pro!
Meet Usman, a 10-year-old Featured Maker from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia! Usman is in the 4th grade, where his favorite subject is math. He loves to practice his math skills even outside of school; when he goes to the grocery store with his dad, he’ll calculate the total cost in his head before they even get to the cashier!
Usman’s love of math and coding will serve him well down the line – when he grows up, he plans to become a computer engineer. When he’s not coding, Usman enjoys playing with his three siblings. He also loves to dance! We were lucky enough to speak to Usman about his experience creating cool programs with code.
How did you get introduced to Tynker and how long have you been coding? For three years! Before, I used a similar program, then I found Tynker.
How did you learn how to use Tynker when you were first starting out? I did it at home, and my parents helped me start.
How did you feel when you found out your project had been featured? I felt awesome!
What is your favorite project you’ve made so far? What do you like about it? The one that was featured. I like everything about it!
How do you get inspiration for your projects? I search on Tynker, see what people like, remix it, and then I start doing my own.
Why do you like to code? Because we can use our own creativity!
What do you do with a project when you’re done with it? I show it to my siblings – they usually think it’s great.
What’s the best thing about Tynker? I like playing around with code.
How do you think learning to code has prepared you for the future? Engineers use code!
Do you think other kids should try coding? Yeah sure, why not!
What advice would you give to kids starting out with Tynker? Use your imagination and play around – be creative!
Usman’s parents are proud to see him creating with code at such a young age! His dad, Irfan, works in the IT field. He told us that when he’s working on his computer, Usman and his brother see him and want to code as well! Irfan is impressed by how dedicated his sons are to learning to code on their own.
“Usman is learning very well,” he said, “and he’s doing it himself! He’s trying to look at the other programs, and he’s trying to understand what’s mentioned in those programs, and he’s trying to apply those codes in his own applications.”
Learning to code is helping Usman reinforce his academic skills as well as his programming knowledge. “Not only is he good at coding,” Irfan told us, “he’s also one of the top students in his school! He’s very good in mathematics. For example, when I go to the grocery store, before I go to the cashier, he already knows the total for the groceries.” We’re impressed!
Irfan emphasizes the importance of coding for his kids at home. He wants them to continue using Tynker and learning to build even better applications! “I just want them to learn – to understand what is a loop, how to use a loop – because it not only helps them to understand the code, but it also helps them in their studies,” he said. “This era is the technology era, so I want my kids to understand how to use technology. If kids know how to use applications from the beginning, it will be good for them.”
Thanks for taking the time to chat with us, Usman and Irfan! We can’t wait to see what you create next, Usman. Happy coding!
