William’s First Project Was Featured!

Here’s something that may shock you – Featured Maker William’s featured project was the first project he ever made! We were really impressed by his coding skills and took the opportunity to chat with him about why he likes to code.

William, who lives in Australia and is twelve years old, just finished 6th grade! In his free time, he likes to play video games and basketball.  

What’s your favorite subject in school? Maths! I find it fun to play with numbers and stuff. It applies to coding in some ways.

How did you feel when you found out your project had been featured? Excited!

How did you get introduced to Tynker? At my school we have this thing where every day after recess we do coding for 20 minutes. One day, we were a bit bored and my friend found Tynker – so I just joined it!

How did you learn how to use Tynker? I looked at some of the other creators’ code, picked up what all the blocks did, then worked from there!

How do you get inspiration for your projects? The inspiration for my featured project came from my friend. He wanted to make a game where you click a head and it winks. I didn’t want to copy him, so I thought of something that was big at the time which was dabbing. I thought, “Why don’t I make a dab clicker?”  

How do creativity and coding fit together for you? With coding, you can do whatever you want if you put the time and effort into it and be creative!

Why do you like to code? I like to create a finished project; I like to show it and say, “I made this!”

What is your favorite project you’ve made so far? Probably the dab clicker.

“dab squad clicker” See more of William’s projects here!

What are you planning to make next? Well, I just finished a game called “Money Simulator.” There’s a casino and a lottery, and you have trophies for when you get a certain amount of money! I don’t know what I want to make next, though. I’m trying to get ideas.

What do you do with a project when you’re done with it? I double check it, go over it a few times to make sure everything’s good – no glitches or anything. Then, I publish it!

What’s your favorite feature in Tynker? The community, really. It led me to begin publishing games that everyone else could play. I like seeing everyone else’s games – I just find it really exciting!

“money simulator”

Do your friends Tynker? Yes, I have a lot of friends who do Tynker as well. In fact, I have a friend who I’m pretty sure is going to be interviewed, too!

How do you think learning coding now might help you in the future? I’m thinking of getting a job in IT somewhere. Maybe I’ll get a job in coding!

Do you think other kids should try coding? Yes! it’s really fun and enjoyable.  

What advice would you give for kids starting out with Tynker? Look at other people’s projects! If you enjoy them, see what the code is and see if you can make your own!

When asked why coding is important, William’s dad Ben wisely said, “If he doesn’t have those skills, he’s going to be left behind. Having your kids be able to use technology and actually understand how it works is extremely valuable for them these days.”

Ben is glad that William has discovered Tynker as a way to build these important skills, saying, “It’s something that he does by himself – we don’t have to force him to do it. It’s really good and I think it’s something that will be quite valuable for him in the future!”

We agree with you, Ben – coding is crucial to the future. We’re so glad William has been developing his coding skills with Tynker, and we look forward to checking out his next project!