Coding for Kids
Table of Contents
How Do I Get Started with My Tynker Subscription?
We’re so excited that you’ve chosen to invest in your child’s future with Tynker. Children benefit in so many ways from learning to code. From building confidence and focus to developing problem-solving and critical thinking skills, coding classes for kids are key. Plus, developing the ability to code with our free online coding classes will expose them to a world of job opportunities.
What are the Benefits of Having a Tynker Subscription?
Having a Tynker subscription comes with several benefits that enhance the learning experience and provide access to additional features and resources for coding games online. Subscribers gain access to an extensive library of coding courses, covering a wide range of topics and skill levels, allowing learners to progress and build their coding skills. Advanced creative tools enable subscribers to create complex games, animations, and interactive projects, fostering creativity and innovation in the world of coding games online. Additionally, exclusive coding challenges and competitions provide opportunities to test and showcase coding skills while competing with other learners globally. With personalized learning paths, learners receive content tailored to their interests and experience, ensuring a relevant and engaging learning journey for coding games online. Educators benefit from enhanced classroom management tools to track student progress and manage assignments effectively. Moreover, subscribers can enjoy offline coding activities, premium coding content, priority support, an ad-free experience, and the ability to track progress and earn completion certificates in the context of coding games online. A Tynker subscription offers a comprehensive and enriched coding journey for learners, empowering them to explore, create, and excel in the world of coding games online.
Getting Started is Easy
Your child can log in to their account and get coding right away. Tynker is designed to be self-paced and self-guided. From your parent dashboard, you can monitor their progress and follow along as they learn coding basics, unlock new levels and gain coding mastery! Reach out to us at support@tynker.com if you have any questions about your subscription.
What’s Included?
We have coding games online, coding for websites, puzzles, free coding classes and tons of DIY projects.
- Puzzles like Candy Quest, Dragon Dash, and Space Cadet will help your child get the hang of coding basics.
- Courses are designed for more in-depth learning, taking 10-15 hours to complete.
- Project Tutorials are a great start in coding with Music, Minecraft, and more.
- Tynker’s Global Community is a safe and secure place for kids to remix and share their projects with other coders.
What path should my child start on?
Tynker is an open-ended coding platform, meaning there’s no right or wrong path. Kids can learn in any order they choose. However, we recommend the following paths for kids of different ages.
Ages 5-7 Pre-Readers & Early Readers
Children in this age bracket can learn coding basics in sequencing, pattern recognition, numerical loops, and critical thinking by connecting picture blocks to move their characters in the Tynker Junior app —available on iPad/iPhone to practice coding skills at home or on-the-go.
Start by completing 5 icon-coding adventures — Ocean’s Odyssey, Robots!, Wild Rumble, Puffball Panic, and Super Squad — which include over 200+ coding challenges!
They can also build their first projects with code using friendly voice-guided tutorials, helpful hints, and a subtle increase in difficulty to motivate completion with 18+ creative coding activities in 5 Maker Studios — Art, Music, Animation, Greeting, and Game.
When they’re ready they can move on to block-coding in the Tynker app (or on the Tynker.com website) and explore courses with voice instructions such as Space Cadet, Candy Quest, Lazer Racer, Ada’s Adventure, and more.
Ages 8-13 Elementary & Middle School Students
Children in elementary and middle school can start with Tynker.com, where they’ll learn to problem-solve while building projects with Actors, Costumes, and Sounds. Here are some recommendations based on their age:
- Ages 8-9: Start with Ada’s Adventure and Glitch Manor, then try Star Runner.
- Ages 10-11: Start with Turing’s Tower, then complete Cannon Crasher.
- Ages 12-13: Start with Goblin Quest, then go to Gravity Sling and Ninja Runner.
Children who want to learn text-based coding with real-world coding languages should complete JavaScript 1, Web Dev, and Python 1 (which can be done in any order). However, we recommend that children try block-coding courses to pick up fundamental coding concepts before attempting text-coding courses.
Ages 14+ High School Students
If a high school student doesn’t have coding experience, start with a block-coding course such as Goblin Quest or Gravity Sling so they understand the basics of coding before transitioning to text coding.
Based on the coding language they want to learn, they can try the following courses to learn loops and patterns, conditional logic, variables, expressions, game design, and more:
- Python: Python 1 & Python 2
- JavaScript 1: JavaScript 1 & Processing (coming in fall 2020)
- Web Development: Web Dev with HTML & CSS
- Internet of Things: MicroPython & micro:bit programming
Program the dashboard based on your child’s interests
Your child can select a programming level and course track from the Settings (gear icon) area of our dashboard to get recommendations based on their interests. These options can be changed at any time. We have 6 Tracks:
Track 1: Art and Music – Perfect for art and music lovers, this track is a way to pursue interests in storytelling, animation, and music while reinforcing problem-solving, critical thinking, and STEM skills.
Track 2: Minecraft Modding – Designed for Minecraft lovers with Windows 10 or an iPad, this track introduces an easy visual approach that turns your child’s enthusiasm for Minecraft into a lifelong interest in learning and making.
Track 3: Game Design – Kids learn what it takes to make their own video game worlds as they play immersive adventures and layout 2D game worlds while designing players, opponents, and game controls.
Track 4: Minecraft Game Design – Java Modding! It’s kind of a big deal. Kids can quickly create and deploy Minecraft mods on their own private Minecraft Java Edition server and play with friends.
Track 5: Robotics & AR – Real-world programming engages and challenges kids in new ways as they use micro:bit, LEGO WeDo, sensors, and drones to engineer their creations to life.
Track 6: Advanced Coding – Kids learn to create their first programs using Python, JavaScript, and HTML as they solve game-based puzzles and complete hundreds of online exercises.
Monitoring your Child’s Progress
Your parent dashboard allows you to track your child’s progress as they complete activities and provides answer keys, FAQs, and subscription management options.
Each parent account can be linked with several child accounts. However, we don’t currently support multiple parents having access to all the child accounts. If your child already has an account on Tynker, you can link that account to your parent account. If your child has a gmail account, we’ll have to link it for you.
The parent dashboard has answer keys, including puzzle solutions and sample projects for all the course activities. Just select Courses in the left navigation bar and select the Answer Keys tab, then click on the course and chapter to see the solution.
Can I use Tynker’s subscription for homeschooling or in a classroom setting?
Yes, you can use Tynker’s subscription for both homeschooling and in a classroom setting. Tynker offers flexible options for educators and parents to integrate coding education into their curriculum. Whether you are a homeschooling parent or a teacher in a traditional classroom, Tynker’s subscriptions provide access to a wide range of coding courses, creative tools, and resources to support coding education.
In a homeschooling environment, Tynker’s subscription can be an excellent addition to your child’s learning journey. You can customize the learning path based on your child’s interests and skill level, allowing them to progress at their own pace. Tynker’s curriculum and activities can be easily incorporated into your homeschooling schedule, providing an engaging and interactive way to learn coding.
Tynker offers a variety of coding options, including both free coding classes and dedicated subscriptions for schools. For educators, Tynker’s school subscription provides a comprehensive set of tools and features to effectively integrate coding education into the classroom setting, while also offering access to a structured curriculum and additional resources. With the school subscription, teachers can manage student accounts, track progress, assign coding projects, and foster collaborative learning in the virtual classroom. For students and learners outside of the classroom, Tynker’s free coding classes offer a valuable opportunity to explore coding concepts and develop essential coding skills in an accessible and engaging manner. Whether through the school subscription or free online coding classes, Tynker equips educators and students with the tools they need to excel in coding and computational thinking, preparing them for success in an increasingly digital world.
More resources
Our Quick Start Guide will show you how to get started. Just set up an account for each child on tynker.com and give them their login information. Tynker is browser-based, so you don’t need to download anything on a desktop computer or laptop (an Intel i7, 4GB RAM, and a 2MBps internet connection work fine).
If you have an iPad, please download our iPad coding apps from the App Store.
● Tynker Junior – Icon coding for pre-readers.
● Tynker – Build games, control robots, program micro:bit, and more.
● Mod Creator – Mod Minecraft and deploy your mods into Minecraft on iPad.
If you created your Tynker parent and child accounts on the web, sign in to the apps with the same accounts.
If you purchased a web plan, you’ll be able to access all the courses on the apps. If you purchased a plan through the app, please make sure that you follow through and create an account on the tablet where you made the purchase, so that your in-app purchase is linked to an account on Tynker.
If you have any additional questions, just contact us at support@tynker.com.
We can’t wait to see what your child creates with code!
