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Creative Coding For Kids
This course was developed in response to demand from teachers and parents for a child-friendly course
This course is specifically designed to be accessible to young learners, with language carefully chosen to maximise understanding. The course projects are kept short, with lots of illustrations, and planned breakpoints for exploring and playing.
As students progress through the course, they will learn about, and gain experience with, programming and computer science concepts that are applicable to many other programming languages they might learn in future.The course has been tested and refined over two years with children in code clubs, secondary schools, home education groups, and also with adults in creative coding groups.
Children as young as 7 can get started with the course and enjoy how fun and easy it is to create digital art. Secondary school students aged 11-17 will enjoy the more interesting concepts and see the maths and science they've learned can be applied creatively. More confident and enthusiastic students will enjoy the more sophisticated concepts often reserved for advanced courses, but made accessible and fun here.
Home educated students will find this course useful as it introduces a broad range of key programming and computer science concepts in a fun, visual, and creative way that also encourages students to experiment and develop autonomous research and problem solving skills.
Adults learning to code for the first time will also find this course a gentle and friendly introduction to coding that avoids unnecessary jargon and technical complexity.
The book uses the web based p5js javascript framework for artists and designers. Students will code and see their creations entirely on the web using a web browser. There is no need to install any additional software.
The course is accompanied by a youtube channel of video tutorials which brings to life the ideas taught in this course, and covers additional topics not possible to fit into this short course.
This course is specifically designed to be accessible to young learners, with language carefully chosen to maximise understanding. The course projects are kept short, with lots of illustrations, and planned breakpoints for exploring and playing.
As students progress through the course, they will learn about, and gain experience with, programming and computer science concepts that are applicable to many other programming languages they might learn in future.The course has been tested and refined over two years with children in code clubs, secondary schools, home education groups, and also with adults in creative coding groups.
Children as young as 7 can get started with the course and enjoy how fun and easy it is to create digital art. Secondary school students aged 11-17 will enjoy the more interesting concepts and see the maths and science they've learned can be applied creatively. More confident and enthusiastic students will enjoy the more sophisticated concepts often reserved for advanced courses, but made accessible and fun here.
Home educated students will find this course useful as it introduces a broad range of key programming and computer science concepts in a fun, visual, and creative way that also encourages students to experiment and develop autonomous research and problem solving skills.
Adults learning to code for the first time will also find this course a gentle and friendly introduction to coding that avoids unnecessary jargon and technical complexity.
The book uses the web based p5js javascript framework for artists and designers. Students will code and see their creations entirely on the web using a web browser. There is no need to install any additional software.
The course is accompanied by a youtube channel of video tutorials which brings to life the ideas taught in this course, and covers additional topics not possible to fit into this short course.
375 pages, Paperback
Published March 26, 2019
8 people want to read
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 14, 2019
As a parent I know that my kids need to know how computers work and about coding. All the parents who care about their children's education are desperately trying to get experience for their kids because schools are struggling to teach it.
I tried a few books and courses, including those from well known publishers and endorsed by fanous celebrities - but I felt they failed in two regards. First, they too often ask children to type stuff in without explaining any of it, and they write as if the reader is 30 years old and knows all the jaron. That shows not just poor teaching but a lack of care and effort put into designing those teaching guides. Secondly, some of them just end up being gamed with no learning. That might be fun, and play is important, but not if you want a series of lessons that teach the subject.
This book is different. It's not a book but a collection of small projects that manage to be both fun and also teach, by stealth, coding ideas. I first looked at this book because it promised a visual arts approach and it works really well. Kids like visual feedback - who knew!?
The teacher at my local school, head of computing actually, says some of the ideas are taught at A-level yet my kids aged 7 and 11 were doing it. The last few projects are probably beyond a 7 year old but the first 2/3 are totally doable.
For me, I liked that the course needs no technical expertise from me or teachers. Everything works in the web browser. I don't need to "set anything up". It just works. The kids are sharing their work and it seems to work on smartphones.
Well done to the author for crafting a teaching resource that is easy to read for young children, isn't overwhelming and somehow manages to teach concepts that the teacher says are taught to kids twice their age!
The author says the course has been tested with students over months (or was it years?) and feedback has been taken on board. Not many authors do that. Great job!
My 11yr old is now confident coder and wants to be a games designer (and a medical researcher!).
The book title "for kids" I think is a mistake - I learned lots from the book and I'm not a spring chicken!
I tried a few books and courses, including those from well known publishers and endorsed by fanous celebrities - but I felt they failed in two regards. First, they too often ask children to type stuff in without explaining any of it, and they write as if the reader is 30 years old and knows all the jaron. That shows not just poor teaching but a lack of care and effort put into designing those teaching guides. Secondly, some of them just end up being gamed with no learning. That might be fun, and play is important, but not if you want a series of lessons that teach the subject.
This book is different. It's not a book but a collection of small projects that manage to be both fun and also teach, by stealth, coding ideas. I first looked at this book because it promised a visual arts approach and it works really well. Kids like visual feedback - who knew!?
The teacher at my local school, head of computing actually, says some of the ideas are taught at A-level yet my kids aged 7 and 11 were doing it. The last few projects are probably beyond a 7 year old but the first 2/3 are totally doable.
For me, I liked that the course needs no technical expertise from me or teachers. Everything works in the web browser. I don't need to "set anything up". It just works. The kids are sharing their work and it seems to work on smartphones.
Well done to the author for crafting a teaching resource that is easy to read for young children, isn't overwhelming and somehow manages to teach concepts that the teacher says are taught to kids twice their age!
The author says the course has been tested with students over months (or was it years?) and feedback has been taken on board. Not many authors do that. Great job!
My 11yr old is now confident coder and wants to be a games designer (and a medical researcher!).
The book title "for kids" I think is a mistake - I learned lots from the book and I'm not a spring chicken!
Displaying 1 of 1 review