My 5 year old and 3 year old always want to steal my computer, ipad, or iphone to play games. The games are so addictive that it’s hard to take devices from the kids. Are yours any better? Luckily, there are these coding games for kids that can actually teach kids to code. Coding isn’t just essential elements of robotics and technology. With coding practice, kids will improve problem solving and analytical thinking skills. Coding games for kids are more appealing and accessible than other kids oriented programming platforms. After that, kids can move on to programming platforms like Scratch or Alice to control a programmable robot. From our reviews, you can find some excellent robots for young kids who just start coding. [easyazon_link identifier=”B00QKFFN3I” locale=”US” tag=”whizkidsrob06-20″]Dash & Dot robots[/easyazon_link] from Wonder Workshop is a programmable robot for 5 year olds and above; [easyazon_link identifier=”B00ZYUFPRO” locale=”US” tag=”whizkidsrob06-20″]Ozobot Bit 2.0[/easyazon_link], [easyazon_link identifier=”B00F35P69C” locale=”US” tag=”whizkidsrob06-20″]Sphero 2.0[/easyazon_link] and [easyazon_link identifier=”B00MV599OK” locale=”US” tag=”whizkidsrob06-20″]Ollie[/easyazon_link] are for 8 year olds and above.
We’ve sorted through some games of the ever-widening options available. The ones made the list are excellent coding games for kids and won’t break your bank.
Coding Board Games for Kids
Robot Turtles Game
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- Robot Turtles is the most-backed board game in Kickstarter history
- It sneakily teaches programming fundamentals to kids ages 4 and up
- Inspired by the Logo programming language, the game lets kids write programs with playing cards
- For 2-5 players
- Invented by Dan Shapiro and seen on NPR, Bloomberg, Make: Magazine, Boing boing, TechCrunch, Reddit, Geekmom, Geekdad and more
Recommended age: 4-15.
Code Monkey Island
1 used from $28.69
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- Helps kids learn computer science logic
- Includes a 32-page booklet that teaches basic programming syntax
- Used in schools and universities around the world
- Seen on Yahoo!, Mashable, Nick Jr., Kickstarter and more
- Created by 23 year-old programmer, designer, and instructor Raj Sidhu
Recommended age: 8+.
Apps and Computer Coding Games for Kids
Bee-Bot
- Recommended age: 4- 7
- Platforms: iOS
- Pricing: Free
The simple, accessible app has 12 top-down timed levels set in progressively difficult mazes.
Cargo-Bot
- Recommended age: 5+ to adults
- Platforms: iOS
- Pricing: Free
Over one million people have enjoyed Cargo-Bot. It is one of the coolest coding games for kids. Players use coding concepts like loops and procedures and do a ton of debugging.
Code Combat
- Recommended age: 13+ (or younger with guidance/consent)
- Platforms: Web
- Pricing: Free
Code Combat has players inputting actual code to play (Javascript currently, with experimental support for CoffeeScript, Python, Clojure, and Lua). Don’t let that put you off, though, as Code Combat does a great job of entertaining while teaching. There are single-player levels and multi-player levels.
Hopscotch
- Recommended age: ages 10+
- Platforms: ipad
- Pricing: Free
Hopscotch is a drag-and-drop programming app for kids to write their own programs. Kids need to be independent readers to follow the instructions and commands and “write” their code. The characters and colors are fun and vibrant, and the app empowers kids to create open-ended options.
Kodable
- Recommended age: 5-8
- Platforms: iOS
- Pricing: Free ($7 for the Pro version)
Kodable’s 105 maze-like levels help teach young kids programming concepts like conditions, loops, functions, and debugging. The free version includes the first 45 levels.
Lightbot and Lightbot Jr.
Lightbot is a programming puzzle game which teaches concepts like planning, testing, debugging, procedures, and loops.
Move the Turtle: Programming for Kids
- Recommended age: 9-11
- Platforms: iOS
- Pricing: $3.99
Kids can learn the basic concepts of computer programming (coding) through the adaptive game play.
Robozzle
- Recommended age: 6+ to adults
- Platforms: Web, iOS, Android, Windows phone
- Pricing: Free (browser), free to $2 (mobile)
Robozzle is a social puzzle game which teaches programming. Using only a few simple commands, teach the robot to recurse a tree, follow a linked list, or count in binary. The levels range from those suitable for younger children right up to puzzles that will make seasoned coders scratch their heads.
ScratchJr
Young kids can program their interactive stories and games with this app from MIT. Based on the popular Scratch visual programming platform, ScratchJr borrows the snap-together programming block and real-time building model and allows kids to construct their own understanding of basic programming concepts. Giving so many options, kids need some guidance to get started but they will soon be hooked.
SpaceChem
- Recommended age: 10+ (and adults)
- Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android
- Pricing: $10 (Steam), $3 (iOS/Android)
SpaceChem tasks players with building machines to fight monsters, using programming concepts like in-order execution, loops, branching, and subroutines.
Tynker
Kids can solve puzzles to learn concepts. Using the new step-by-step coding tutorials, kids can easily build their own games, and control robots and drones. There are 50+ free starter templates.