Henry Teaches Other Kids to Code!

Featured Maker Henry is from Australia and is nine years old! He loves to play sports (mostly soccer) and code. He teaches his friends how to code and fix bugs in their games. Henry also likes to play the games his friends create! In school, Henry’s favorite subject is science. Read on to learn more about Henry and his coding skills!

How did you get introduced to Tynker and how long have you been coding? I’ve been coding since I was 7. We first started with another program on the computer, but I’m not really good with the computer. Then my teacher told us to download Tynker. My dad asked me which program I wanted to continue with and I said Tynker because it’s on the iPad. You can carry it around and there’s block coding and you can play your games. You can do Minecraft and coding on Tynker!

How did you learn how to use Tynker when you were first starting out? I used drawings and physics.

How have your coding skills improved since you started using Tynker? I can play a lot more with the physics blocks. I have this Angry Birds project, where you have this cannon and you shoot the big red bird, where you hit the king, then another king appears and you hit it and then all the blocks disappear when you win and you fall to the ground.

How did you feel when you found out your project had been featured? I felt really good! I created one project and it was Marble Run 1. I saw a gold medal on it and I saw the likes. It got 100 likes! When I saw 100 likes, I got more motivated to code more stuff into it.

Marble Run 1

What is your favorite project you’ve made so far? Jetpack Joyride and Marble Run 1!

Where did you get the idea for your favorite project? My Jetpack Joyride took me about a day. It worked out pretty well, and I’m thinking that it’s good. There’s a real game called Jetpack Joyride and I admire that game. So now, my next step is, instead of just a game, I’m making some backgrounds–I’ve made 4 so far.

Jetpack Joyride

How do you get inspiration for your projects? Jetpack Joyride is an actual game, so I got it from that. There’s a lot of inspiration from games I’ve seen, like one where you touch the character and move it and shoot the bad guys! Once I created ‘The Messy Rider.’ It got 12 likes, then I started creating more projects. Once I got an inspiration from Angry Birds, which is physics, and Messy Rider which is drawing; I started to use drawing and physics more. Then, I figured out I don’t really have to use physics in Jetpack Joyride because you just have to go up because you’re already touching the ground. So, you have to trick people into believing that it’s running when it’s just animating running.

Why do you like to code? I really like computer games. If I can code them, I can make money when I get older and also enjoy my coding. 

What is your favorite way to use code? I like physics. My favorite code block is ‘wait.’ If you don’t have wait and you create a car, it’s going to keep running too much. In Marble Run 1, I made this ninja hexagon, and it clones, then waits one second. There’s a lot of things that I code to make them wait one second, instead of just going to that specific location straight away. It looks more smooth.

What are you planning to make next? I’m planning on making more games that involve music. I’m trying to do music myself. And I’m also working on making Pac-Man! 

What’s the best thing about Tynker? You can make as many games as you want and you have a lot of blocks to make that game!

How do you think learning to code has prepared you for the future? My dad says coding is the future. Coding comes in almost everything, microwaves, fridges, even clocks!

Do you think other kids should try coding? Yes! I’m encouraging my friends when we have free time and I teach them how to code. One is my best friend and the other is my other good friend. Both of them are like me, but they just didn’t really know about coding because they didn’t get actual lessons until I gave them lessons! I made this project for my friend just to start and he’s adding onto it.

What advice would you give to kids starting out with Tynker? I would tell them about the control blocks first and then the motion blocks. Those are the two blocks I use the most. And then, when they’ve mastered that, I’ll teach them to work on the drawing stuff.

Paul, Henry’s dad, works for a software company, so he likes that Henry is following in his footsteps: “I’ve encouraged him to code from as early as I could because it’s pretty obvious where the future lies. Tynker enables kids to code on their iPads. The rule in this house is if you code a game, you can play the game.” Paul likes to see Henry progress in his coding skills: “I’m encouraging him to progress beyond block coding. It helps him with his reasoning powers and his communication has improved.” Paul also feels that learning to code helps Henry with academic skills: “It helps him with his basic skills like typing and writing and his math. He’s doing things with degrees and angles. It’s helping him with other bits of his schoolwork.”

We want to thank Henry and Paul so much for taking the time to speak with us about Henry’s coding experience. We’re sure that Henry will create more awesome games and continue to teach kids to become better coders!