Coding for Kids
Getting started with Tynker? Looking for short programs inspire your child to get creative? Watch these videos together. Then let their imagination take over! What will they create with code?
To create a new project and follow along, login at tynker.com, visit Projects, then Create a New Project > Blank Block Coding Project.
Table of Contents
Move Around
Make an actor move back-and-forth.
Change Direction
Want to take control of how an actor faces? Watch this video.
Change Size
Make actors become bigger — or smaller! — with code. Make cool animated effects.
Control Backgrounds
Give your Tynker project some color by controlling the background. Flip to the next page in your story!
Respond to Mouse Clicks
Make an actor respond to a mouse click — make a button, sound board, or a simple game!
Explore these additional resources for absolute beginners:
- Tynker Workshop Basics: A Tutorial on Coordinates and Movement
- The Animation Tool Tutorial: Create Custom Animations
- Tynker Community Inspiration: Create an Avatar!
- Tynker Community Inspiration: Cool Animations
Draw with a Pen
Use Tynker’s Pen Blocks to make actors draw as they move. Explore geometry and patterns!
Looking for more Pen coding ideas?
- Pen Blocks Tutorial
- Tynker Community Inspiration: Pen Block Magic!
- Tynker Community Inspiration: Draw a Summerscape
Graphic Effects
These handy code blocks let you apply effects like color-changing, blurring, and pixelation! Try them out!
Play around with these interactive projects to see ALL the graphic effect possibilities.
Use Physics
Get some ideas for making your own physics games. Think: Angry Birds and Marble Madness!
Looking for Physics coding ideas? Check out these links and find more tutorials in your Student Dashboard (Projects > Create a Project > Physics).
Keep Score with Variables
Get serious about coding and make a simple scoreboard for your Tynker games.
Looking for more Game Design ideas? Check out these links:
- Explore Tynker’s Game Design Courses
- Game Design Ideas for First-Timers
- Tynker Community Inspiration: Cool Games
Make Minecraft Mods
Want to apply coding to Minecraft? Here’s a simple mod you can try in Tynker.
Looking for more Minecraft modding ideas? Check out these helpful links:
- Howto Videos for Skins, Items, and Mobs
- Explore Tynker’s Minecraft Modding Courses
- Tynker’s Most Popular Modding Tutorials
- Visit Your Minecraft Dashboard
- Create Skins, Items, Blocks, and Mobs
- Build a Minecraft House with Code
More Activities!
Looking for more fun FREE coding activities to try? Check out these Tynker Toolbox articles!
- Tynker Workshop Basics — Learn about coordinates and start coding with Tynker.
- The Animation Tool — Learn about frame-based animation and other animation tips.
- The Character Creator — Take control of custom rigs using the Animation blocks.
- Text Tricks — Work with speech bubbles and more. Tell your own stories, put on a play, or make a computer write poetry!
- The Sound Blocks — Play music with code! Add custom sound effects, too. Tynker’s brand new music tool supports MIDI and MP3.
- The Synth Blocks — Create your own sound effects and instruments! You can create crunchy dubstep drops, glitchy chiptunes, or instruments from any style of music you can imagine!
- Code Block Tricks — Get top-secret ninja tips for writing code fast in Tynker Workshop.
- The Pen Blocks — Make your actors draw as they move. Create patterns, draw geometric shapes, and more.
- The Physics Blocks — Create games or simulations with gravity, collisions, and more. Think: Angry Birds and Marble Madness.
- The Augmented Reality (AR) Blocks — Want to use video or photos in your programs? Try the AR Blocks, which let you code your own selfie!
- The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Blocks — Take your AR projects to the next level with face-, hand-, and pose-tracking. Explore what makes AI special.
- The Tutorial Builder — Did you ever make a really cool Tynker Block project and wish you could teach the whole world exactly how you did it? Now you can!
- The Python Editor — Looking for a challenge? Ready for your next step on your coding journey? Learn Python with Tynker too, and take the plunge into text-based coding.
