Coding for Kids
Vladimir’s Obstacle Course of Code!
Featured Maker Vladimir is ten years old! He loves participating in Aikido martial arts, parkour, and of course coding! Vladimir lives in South Carolina and loves entomology, especially myrmecology, the branch of entomology that deals with ants.
His favorite subject in school is science because he gets to mix things to make chemical reactions. We were lucky enough to sit down with Vladimir and speak to him about why he loves to code!
How did you get introduced to Tynker and how long have you been coding? I was looking on my phone for apps to do programming. I first started on Scratch probably about 3 or 4 years ago!
How did you learn how to use Tynker when you were first starting out? I taught myself, I kinda figured it out. I use the tutorials mostly for making games!
How have your coding skills improved since you started using Tynker? Quite a bit!
How did you feel when you found out your project had been featured? Famous! I was very excited!
What is your favorite project you’ve made so far? My Pac-Man project! I like that the controls are easy!
“Pac-man!”
Where did you get the idea for your project? I got the idea from other people that were making it. It took me about 1 or 2 days to make it!
How do you get inspiration for your projects? Sometimes the community board or games that already exist!
Why do you like to code? Because it’s fun and entertaining and I love to learn coding!
“Harpoon”
Do you have a favorite code block? Repeat forever block!
What do you do with a project when you’re done with it? I get it to a point where I’m satisfied with it and then I’ll share it. I fix and take any bugs out before and then publish it after it fits my liking.
How do you think learning to code has prepared you for the future? Learning more to make future games!
Do you think other kids should try coding? Yes! Because they might learn more for their futures and it’s also just fun!
What advice would you give to kids starting out with Tynker? Start out slowly and then get better gradually!
We sat down with Dr. Ginny, Vladimir’s mom, and asked her what she thought about him learning to code: “I love it, because if they’re going to be on a computer screen for a significant amount of time, I’d much rather that they be doing something that gives them some useful skill…Something that just uses their brain!”
Having Vladimir work independently is something that Dr. Ginny encourages. She explained how she thinks coding helps Vladimir: “Problem solving and maybe becoming a little frustrated at something he can’t figure out but then persevere until he does figure it out, I think it helps him out a great deal. We do a lot of Codecademy math during the summer and he’ll do next year’s curriculum by himself. I almost virtually don’t have to help him, he just watches the explanation, figures it out, does it, and he doesn’t melt down and get all frustrated and quit. I think it all goes together.”
Dr. Ginny knows that Vladimir has a head start on the future because he can persevere through the challenges coding presents to him. She likes that Tynker guides kids in what to learn and how to learn it: “I just really love that it has tutorials and lessons for them and that it kind of leads them through and does have the ideas there!”
Thank you Dr. Ginny and Vladimir so much for taking the time to speak with us about your experiences using Tynker! We can’t wait to see what kinds of projects Vladimir will make next!
