Coding for Kids
Our 2020 Summer Code Jam has come to an end. We’re so impressed with the tens of thousands of submissions from throughout the summer and excited to talk to some of our winners about their awesome projects and experiences with Tynker!
Next up is 12-year-old Cristina, a 6th grader from Alajuela, Costa Rica. Cristina is the daughter of a programmer and definitely aims to follow in her mother’s footsteps. She’s off to a great start as one of our Week 5 Code Jam winners!
How did you learn to use Tynker when you were first starting out? What are your favorite Tynker courses or tutorials?
My informatics teacher introduced me to [another coding platform] but I didn’t really get it. Then, my mom found Tynker! I learned to use it with the first course, the haunted mansion. I like to look at what other kids make too with the Code Jam.
How have your coding skills improved since you started using Tynker?
From 0 to 100!
How do you get inspiration for your projects?
Some people told me I have great creativity, so almost anything I can think of!
Why do you like to code?
It’s easy! At first, I didn’t know anything about JavaScript or Python. It’s easier using the blocks.
What is your favorite way to use code? Do you have a favorite code block?
Anything with music or if I can train myself with something.
What do you do with a project when you’re done with it? Do you debug it? Show it to someone? Publish it?
When I finish it, first I give it to my mother. So she can check it. If she says that I can publish it, I publish it.
What are you planning to make next?
I was trying to make a Proteus game. But it was kind of challenging.
What’s the best thing about Tynker?
What I really like most is that I can make as many projects as I can.
How do you think learning to code has prepared you for the future?
To follow my mother’s footsteps.
Do you think other kids should try coding? Why’s that?
My sister and my best friend from school code because of me! My sister and my best friend participated in the Code Jam.
Bonus: What’s a fun fact about you?
I like to make anything that comes out my mind in Tynker!
We spoke with Cristina’s mom, Emilia, to get her take on her daughter’s accomplishments with Tynker. “I feel really happy because she wants to be a programmer,” Emilia told us. “She asked me to teach her to program a few years ago. I was afraid because I didn’t want her to have a bad experience with programming, so I started doing research about a good platform. And then I found Tynker and I said, ‘That’s the one’ and yeah, she really liked it!”
As a programmer herself, Emilia was well qualified to choose the platform that was best for Cristina. “It’s very easy to learn with the tutorials. I’m working from home so I don’t have enough time to teach her variables or other terms. I was looking for something that had tutorials, so I could get her to practice. That’s a big reason I chose Tynker.”
Emilia supports Cristina whenever she needs help, but has found that Cristina mostly gets along fine on her own. “Really, she can get along by herself. Sometimes she asks me questions. For example, in the beginning with the ‘or’s and the ‘and’s, I tried to give her some daily life examples so she can understand the concepts, but really she has done it by herself.”
Emilia closed by saying, “I think programming is a skill that every kid should learn because it improves on skills and abilities. Even if Cristina is not a programmer in the future, I know she will take these skills for her next career or for her life.”
We want to thank Emilia and Cristina for sitting down and talking with us and we can’t wait to see what else Cristina does with Tynker. Happy coding!
