Coding classes for kids ages 6–16

Outcomes

What your child will be able to do

1. Read an error message, work out what it means, and fix it — the skill that separates people who keep going from people who quit
2. Build a playable game with movement, collisions, scoring and levels
3. Train a simple machine-learning model and explain, in their own words, why it makes the predictions it does
4. Finish with a project that is theirs — designed by them, not copied from the board

FAQ

Questions parents ask

?Scratch or real code?

Real code, in Python or JavaScript. Block languages are a good on-ramp at younger ages, but a child who has been in school coding clubs has usually outgrown them and gets frustrated being handed blocks again.

?Is 6 or 7 too young to start Python?

It depends on reading and typing more than on age. Python Beginner takes ages 6 to 16 because the material is introduced by ideas rather than by reading speed, and a younger child covers less ground per class, which is what the small class size is for. A child who is not yet reading comfortably usually does better starting with a block-based tool like Scratch first.

?Which track should we start with?

Python Beginner unless your child has already written code. Game Design, AI and p5.js all assume the basics are in place. If you are not sure, ask us before booking rather than guessing.

Guides for parents

Still deciding? Read this first.

• VSScratch vs Python: which should your child learn first?Under about 6, or for a child who has never used a keyboard much, Scratch is a good start. From 6 upwards, a child who can read comfortably is usually ready for Python, and starting there avoids re-learning later. A child who has already done Scratch at school is almost always ready.Read the guide
• VSPython vs JavaScript for kidsFor most children, Python first: it is cleaner to read and forgives beginners more. For a child who is mainly excited by visual, creative things like animation, art and games in a browser they can share with friends, JavaScript with p5.js can be the better hook.Read the guide
• VSSmall-group classes vs 1-on-1 tutoring: which suits your child?A small group suits most children most of the time. It costs less, and children learn a lot from hearing others’ questions. 1-on-1 is worth the extra for a child who is far behind or far ahead, who is anxious speaking in front of others, or who is preparing for a specific test on a fixed date.Read the guide
• Which coding class is right for your child’s age?Age is a weak signal on its own. The three things that matter are whether your child can type a sentence without hunting for keys, whether they can read instructions unaided, and whether they have coded before. A 9-year-old who ticks all three is often better placed than a 13-year-old who ticks none.Read the guide
• VSCoding or robotics: which should your child try first?There is no universally right order. Coding is the more flexible starting point, since it needs only a computer your family probably already owns; robotics adds a hardware kit and generally works best from about age 9, once a child can handle small components without losing patience. A child who is mainly excited by building and moving parts, rather than what happens on a screen, is often happier starting with robotics regardless of the extra setup.Read the guide
• What age should a child start Python?Most children are ready for Python somewhere between 6 and 10, once they can type a short sentence and read simple on-screen instructions without help. A child who is younger, or who is not yet a confident reader, usually does better starting with a block-based tool like Scratch and moving to Python once those two skills are in place.Read the guide
• Coding through game design: what a game-making class actually teachesA real game-design coding class teaches a child to build a game from small, reusable pieces — movement, collisions, scoring — using ordinary code, not a drag-and-drop game maker. It suits a child who already has some basic coding under their belt (variables, simple loops); a total beginner can still start, but expect the first few classes to spend more time on the fundamentals than on the game itself.Read the guide
• Python lists for kids: keeping many things in one variableA Python list is a row of items inside square brackets: fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]. Each item has a position number, and the first position is 0, not 1. fruits[0] is "apple", len(fruits) is 3, and fruits.append("mango") adds a new item to the end. Asking for a position that does not exist gives an IndexError.Read the guide
• Python functions for kids: naming your own commandsA Python function is defined with def, a name and brackets, followed by an indented block. Values go in through parameters, and a result comes out through return. Defining a function does nothing by itself: the code inside only runs when the function is called by name.Read the guide
• Python for loops for kids: making the computer repeat, and why range(5) stops at 4A for loop runs the same indented lines once for every item in a sequence, and the loop variable holds the current item each time. range(5) gives 0, 1, 2, 3, 4: it starts at 0 and stops just before 5. To count 1 to 5, write range(1, 6). Tracing the loop on paper, one row per repeat, finds most bugs.Read the guide
• What does an AI coding class for kids actually teach?A good AI class for children teaches that a program can learn a rule from examples (data) instead of being given the rule, and that its answers are only as good as those examples. Children collect or are given labelled examples, let a simple program learn from them, test it on new cases and look at its mistakes. Python is the usual language because the real tools for machine learning are written in it.Read the guide

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