In today’s digitally focused world, coding has become an essential skill, not just for tech professionals, but for everyone. It’s the new literacy, a key that opens doors to countless opportunities. But how can we equip the younger generation for this tech-driven future? Coding apps for kids is part of the answer.
These apps make learning to code as enjoyable as playing a game, effortlessly merging fun and education. They turn abstract coding concepts into engaging activities and interactive challenges that captivate young minds.
In this blog post, we’ll journey through the world of coding apps for kids, exploring their unique features. So whether you’re a parent, an educator, or a curious reader, these coding apps for kids are definitely worth checking out.
Coding Apps for Kids
Here are our top 10 picks for best coding apps for kids:
1. ScratchJr
ScratchJr is a revolutionary programming language designed specifically for children aged 5 and up. It allows young learners to create their own interactive stories and games by connecting graphical programming blocks.
With ScratchJr, children can modify characters, add their own voices and sounds, and even insert personal photos. This app fosters essential skills, including critical thinking, problem-solving, and early numeracy and literacy, in a motivating context.
Compatibility: iPhone/iPad/Mac, Android. Price: Free.
2. Tinkercad
Tinkercad is another good coding app for kids. It provides foundational skills in 3D design, electronics, and coding in an engaging and accessible manner. With Tinkercad, kids can easily create 3D models with controls optimized for their devices, simulate circuit components, make 3D designs from code, and even view their designs in AR. The app also offers Tinkercad Classrooms for educators, providing a convenient way to assign tasks and monitor student progress.
Compatibility: iPad, Android. Price: Free.
3. Khan Academy Kids
Khan Academy Kids is a fun and interactive learning application for children ages 2-8. It offers thousands of educational games, books, and activities to foster lifelong learning and discovery.
The learning journey includes math games, spelling activities, digital books, and lessons aimed at developing reading, phonics, writing, and social-emotional skills. Khan Academy Kids is completely free, with no ads or subscriptions, ensuring an uninterrupted and engaging learning experience for kids.
Compatibility: iPhone/iPad, Android. Price: Free.
4. Hopscotch
Hopscotch is a dynamic platform that empowers kids to express their creativity through coding. The program allows kids to develop games, artwork, stories, and more, which they can then share with Hopscotch’s fully moderated community for other kids to play and learn from.
The platform offers millions of projects created by other kids, which can be played, tweaked, or remixed, ensuring a continuous supply of inspiration and learning opportunities. Through interactive video tutorials, kids learn how to create projects like Crossy Road and PokemonGo, gradually advancing their coding skills to build more complex games and apps.
Compatibility: iPhone/iPad/Mac, Android. Price: Free, offers in-app purchases
5. Minecraft Education
Minecraft Education is a creative, game-based platform that promotes inclusive learning through play. It offers an immersive exploration of subjects like reading, math, history, and coding through innovative lessons and challenges.
Minecraft Education is designed to engage learners in STEM, fostering key skills like problem-solving, collaboration, digital citizenship, and critical thinking. This platform is replete with numerous ready-to-teach lessons, creative challenges, and free-form worlds. With features like multiplayer mode, Code Builder, Immersive Reader, and integration with Microsoft Teams and Flipgrid, Minecraft Education provides a comprehensive and enriching learning experience.
Compatibility: iPhone/iPad, Android. Price: Free, offers in-app purchases
6. CodeSpark Academy
CodeSpark Academy is a leading learn-to-code application designed for children aged 5-10. It offers hundreds of games and activities aimed at teaching the basics of computer science and introducing the world of STEM to young learners.
CodeSpark Academy, dubbed the “ABCs of coding,” requires no reading and focuses on teaching through interactive gameplay. It has received numerous accolades, including the Editor’s Choice Award from Children’s Technology Review and the Gold Medal from the Parents’ Choice Awards. The app includes features like puzzles, a game maker, a story maker, and a safe moderated community, providing a comprehensive and fun-filled coding learning journey.
Compatibility: iPhone/iPad/ Mac, Android. Price: Free, offers in-app purchases
7. Tynker
Tynker is a pioneering coding app for kids. The app is designed to teach coding to kids in a fun, interactive way. With Tynker, children learn to code by building digital games, programming robots, solving puzzles, and even coding with Barbie.
The platform lauds over 60 million children and 100,000+ schools worldwide, cementing its place as a leading platform for childhood coding education. Tynker’s award-winning curriculum is designed to make coding enjoyable and accessible to kids of all ages, offering a step-by-step tutorial format that simplifies the learning process.
Compatibility: iPhone/iPad/Mac, Android. Price: Free, offers in-app purchases
8. Kodable
Kodable is a comprehensive coding curriculum designed to engage children aged 4-10 in the world of computer science. Its platform takes learners from initial exposure to coding to fluency in JavaScript through age-appropriate games and activities.
Kodable helps kids to think like programmers, covering a broad spectrum of concepts such as sequence, algorithmic operations, syntax, variables, and object-oriented programming, all the way to advanced topics like classes, subclasses, properties, and methods.
In addition to hard coding skills, Kodable emphasizes the development of critical soft skills, including problem-solving, higher-level thinking, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking.
For teachers, Kodable offers a complete K-5 curriculum with scripted lesson plans and on-screen activities, requiring no prior computer science knowledge, making coding accessible in the classroom.
Compatibility: iPhone/iPad. Price: Free, offers in-app purchases
9. Coding for Kids
Coding for Kids is an interactive educational platform designed to introduce children to the fundamentals of coding through more than 200 engaging games, such as firefighting and balloon popping.
The program helps enhance problem-solving abilities, memory, and logical thinking, and prepares children for school. The curriculum covers key programming concepts including sequences, loops, functions, debugging, arrays, advanced combination commands, and coordinate systems.
Through these coding games, children learn to recognize and implement patterns, sequence actions logically, apply simple instructions, and determine appropriate solutions to complete each level.
Compatibility: iPhone/iPad. Price: Free, offers in-app purchases
10. Encode
Encode is a flexible, self-paced learning platform that helps individuals master coding skills for free. The platform uses concise explanations, practical coding challenges, and real-world examples to make learning engaging and effective.
Renowned worldwide, Encode provides a comprehensive curriculum covering Python, JavaScript, Swift, command-line use, website building, database querying, and data analysis.
Compatibility: iPhone/iPad. Price: Free, offers in-app purchases
For more resources, check out our Educational Coding Resources section here in Educators Technology.
Final thoughts
In wrapping up, it’s clear that coding apps for kids are more than just digital playgrounds; they are gateways to essential skills for the future. Each app we’ve explored today offers a unique blend of fun and learning, ensuring that kids not only engage with the core principles of coding but also enjoy the process. From storytelling with ScratchJr to problem-solving with CodeSpark Academy, these platforms equip the next generation with the tools they need for a tech-savvy future. For parents and educators eager to introduce coding in a fun, impactful way, these apps provide perfect starting points.
