Teach Your Kid How To Easily Program Their Own Minecraft Game On Code.org For Free
Last week, my daughter and I started doing some easy coding projects on Code.org. All the projects are free and you don't have to download any software, either.
Since my daughter is currently obsessed with Minecraft, it was easy to decide which project to begin with: https://code.org/minecraft. The beginning projects use an easy programming language that is composed of blocks instead of alphanumeric symbols. It looks like this:
Each section allows you to stack the blocks in different ways in order to manipulate the actions of the animals in the game. It's really well-designed for absolute beginners. Even adults who know nothing about coding can learn easily. Each exercise has a specific goal, and after you complete it, you can click a button to see the actual code that the blocks represent. Also, when you finish the entire Minecraft project, there's a message at the end that asks if you want to email the code to your smartphone. When you click on the link, it plays the game you just programmed on your phone. This was really cool.
The projects we did on Code.org go from beginner to advanced, ages 6+. The Minecraft coding project was pretty easy for my 6 year-old to do because it had introductory videos for each section. Out of all the videos, we liked the one that went into the details about the software engineer who worked on the taming capabilities of the ocelot:
Since the public schools aren't teaching young kids beginning coding, I decided we would start at home on the weekends learning some game programming basics.
Most parents who don't know how to code aren't familiar with which projects to start their kids on. Code.org is a really good one to start with. Even though I am not a programmer, I taught myself web design and HTML a while back and that basic knowledge has gone a long way for me in understanding the basics of how computers work.
I think all kids should learn coding, starting at a young age, even those who don't go into the computer programming field.
The public school system is really outdated and in need of an upgrade, as many parents realize. For those parents who cannot afford private schools, it's important to make use of all the free tools available, and we're lucky to be in a time where there's a huge selection of tools. The projects on Code.org are quite easy and fun, and because they're free, there's no barrier to entry.
Go for it.
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My oldest daughter is 6. I think coding one the best skills I can raise them with. I will follow this advice and see if it works for us to learn coding too. Thanks for making this post.
you're welcome. I've been doing some research on different sites, and it's easy to get lost in "research" and not do anything............I also dislike downloading any software (no idea why...) so when I found out that no software needs to be downloaded, that was it for me. I'd be interested to see how it works out for you. There's other projects besides minecraft on there. Also https://www.madewithcode.com/ is another one I used too. We haven't done any together on that one yet...
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Programming teaches one to think logically and how to describe a procedure step by step. Good training for whatever future they choose! Best wishes to you and your daughter!
thanks. I think if I hadn't taught myself HTML, I wouldn't understand anything about url's, etc.
I still remember how excited I became when I learned how to create an onmouseover event. I think that went by the wayside in the late 1990's. The first website I built was really random and had tons of weird stuff in it. It was more like an art project than a well-functioning site........I wish I had saved a copy of it!
I would love to see your site! Did you check for it here? http://archive.org/web/web.php
perfect. i heartily agree with you about kids learning this way, i recently did a courses on skillshare about digital projects we can do with our kids as part of my december courses advent. they are like sponges they love more information! :)
I think children should learn programming because of one great fundamental reason. You learn how to express creativity as a logical process. It tends to bring a balance to the brains 2 hemispheres. Awesome post. Another good one for balancing the hemispheres is music.
In the UK too kids are not being taught much coding. I've tried to encourage mine, but they are not so into it. At least there are lots of free resources available