Khaberni - Programming is considered one of the most important skills of the 21st century that children can start learning, and as we know, young children can learn better, thus they can easily learn many things, such as spoken languages, as well as programming. Now, children aged five or older can learn programming through smartphone applications.
With the return to school, we present to you today a range of applications that can be relied upon to develop your child's programming skills.
Here are 5 applications that help children learn programming:
1- Application Kodable:
The application Kodable helps children learn fundamental programming concepts through engaging games, and is suitable for children aged 4 to 10 years. It is relied upon by over 50% of elementary schools in the United States to develop children's skills.
The educational lessons in the application are divided into two sections; the first: dedicated to children aged 4 to 7 years, where they learn the basics of programming through drag and drop, exploring program codes, and building customized characters.
While the second section is dedicated to children aged 7 to 10 years, and includes a range of advanced topics, such as: learning the programming language (JavaScript) JavaScript through gamification – as it's an excellent language for beginners – then moving on to writing real programming codes using an API designed for children to build characters and design games.
The application is available for iPhone and iPad users on the App Store, as well as a web version, but it is not available for Android device users.
2- Application ScratchJr:
The application ScratchJr aims to teach children aged five to seven new skills while programming their interactive stories and games.
Through graphical programming language, children can make characters move and perform specific tasks, enabling them to solve problems, design projects, and express themselves creatively while utilizing both math and programming in a useful and stimulating context.
The application is available for free for Android device users on Google Play, and for iPad users on the App Store, along with a Chrome browser extension.
3- Application Nancy Drew Codes & Clues:
This application combines learning and play, as it includes some games where children develop and use their growing skills to solve problems they face, find new clues, and they can program the small puppy in the game to overcome obstacles and assist Nancy in escaping tight places at the end of each chapter.
Children drag and drop the codes in appropriate places, and programming challenges increase as the story progresses, and at the end, outstanding children can win the Super Coder award.
The application is available for free for Android device users on Google Play, and for iPad users on the App Store.
4- Application Tynker:
The application Tynker allows children to learn programming through playing and solving puzzles, starting with block-based programming through drag and drop, then advancing to learning languages (JavaScript) JavaScript, (Swift) Swift, and (Python) Python for designing games and creating apps, in addition to using programming to animate characters.
Children also practice critical thinking while learning, recognizing patterns, and focusing on problem-solving, which helps in rapidly developing their creative skills.
The application is available for free for Android device users on Google Play, and for iPad users on the App Store.
5- Application SpriteBox:
The application SpriteBox allows children to learn programming through a series of engaging puzzles and games, coming with 20 puzzles to solve and collect the stars. During the adventures, the child learns command sequencing, correcting wrong logic, and using both simple and complex command sequences to solve problems. The application is available for free for Android device users on Google Play, and for iPad users on the App Store.
