NEWS$show=/search/label/news

Here's where you'll find all the latest news about technology for children. We love to follow cool new inventions on Kickstarter and we hunt out all the latest announcements about tech toys and gadgets for the coming Christmas holidays. You'll also get our take on children's technology stories in the media.

REVIEWS$show=/search/label/review

Our kids technology product reviews are intended to help you work out whether a toy, gadget or kit is a good fit for your child or family. There's lots of cool stuff available, but is it the right choice for the child or teenager that you are buying for? We'll help you make the right choices and get the best value for money.

GIFT GUIDES$show=/search/label/gift%20guide

Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends assemble. We create gift lists to help you make good choices for kids technology which helps them develop the right skills for the future. We research the best in Coding Toys and Games, Making / Craft Tools and Kits, STEM/STEAM related gifts, Programmable Robots, Electronics Kits and Gadgets for Tech Age Kids and Teens.

PROJECTS$show=/search/label/project

Get crafty with technology. Here we'll post all our ideas and projects using technology to get creative and making with kids. You'll find anything from making a lemon battery to a glow-in-the-dark Minecraft sword. Our projects are tried and tested on our own kids or at events we run, so we are sure you can have a go at home with your kids. Some of our projects use specific tech gadgets which we provide links for you to purchase.

STEM$show=/search/label/stem

STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. In recent years there is an increased focus in these areas of study. We like to include Art and Design too, so we often talk about STEAM (A stands for Art). At Tech Age Kids we believe Coding is a new literacy and children need to understand how technology works, practice making skills and grow in their curiosity to make a better future for us all.

CODING$show=/search/label/coding

Coding is increasingly being recognised as an important skill for children to learn. Some will learn to code at school or at a coding club, but it's brilliant if they get support at home too.

ELECTRONICS$show=/search/label/electronics

We think it's really important for kids to get hands-on with electronics and learn how to make circuits and write code to control hardware. Younger kids can start with conductive playdough. For kids who like to combine craft and tech, littleBits are fab. And we love SAM Labs wireless electronics components for making it easy for kids to make Internet of Things inventions. Lots of electronics kits for kids have support for the Arduino microprocessor environment. The DuinoKit Jr is one of our favourites. Arduino is a fab skill for older kids and teens to develop.

ROBOTICS$show=/search/label/robotics

We love robots at Tech Age Kids, especially programmable ones. We've got lots of them and write reviews and projects that use them. Our programmable robots for kids buying guide is a good place to start if you're not sure what's available. Roby the mBot Meccano robot dog is one of our popular projects and has been with us to lots of events. Our Ozobot LEGO trailer is fab for kids who love LEGO and robots.

MAKING AND CRAFT$show=/search/label/making

We're advocates of the creative use of technology, but this needs to be balanced with developing physical skills such as papercraft, woodwork, clay modelling, technical drawing and soldering. If children don't develop these skills as they grow up then physical making projects can become frustrating rather than fun. The Maker Community uses the term 'making' as a broad term to include all sorts of artisan skills or craft activities. Being able to make things can lead to life-long hobbies or even careers. It's a great feeling to be able to take a project from an idea in your head to a real object that does something. We're particularly interested to explore products that combine maker skills with tech skills such as electronics but others focus purely on the physical making skills that are still important to modern making.

Why I like Scratch as an Introduction to Programming for Kids

Saturday 4 May 2013 Edit this post
I'm a computer scientist myself and my kids are at primary school so it's time for them to learn to code. I've chosen the Scratch programming language and environment for kids to get them started and in this article I'll explain why.

Scratch is a graphical programming environment specifically designed for children. It comes from MIT and is free to use.




My older son is now 6.5 and ready to learn programming. I had a look into various options and decided on Scratch for getting started. That doesn't mean  won't be getting him to try other tools too, I certainly will, but Scratch is a very good fit for him to use at home. My younger son is nearly 5 and already showing an interest. He's very good at controlling a mouse which is one of the key skills needed. And he doesn't like to miss out on anything his big brother is doing so I don't think it will be long until he starts coding too.

Here are the main reasons why I chose Scratch as an introduction to programming for my kids:

Make the Beetle Wiggle
  1. Scratch is now well established and there are some excellent resources for learning to program with it. We are loving Super Scratch Adventure. 
  2. Scratch is very self-contained and easy to get started with. It's full of useful capabilities that mean kids are able to create programs that work straight away. There's no boring setup or tedious scaffolding work to do before you get to the fun stuff. 
  3. Scratch uses graphical programming with blocks that kids drag and configure to make programs. The blocks have text on them. This is a really good balance between getting used to a program as a series of textual commands and not having to type too much or remember syntax.
  4. Scratch is available for Windows, Linux, Mac and Raspberry Pi. Excellent. The kids have access to a Windows machine, I run Linux and we a Raspberry Pi. This makes it easy to work on whatever machine is available. Scratch is also available online.
    "You can get your own animal and call it your own thing"
  5. Scratch encourages creativity and multimedia projects. Scratch comes with lots of fun characters (sprites) and stages (backgrounds) that kids can use to really customize their creations and it has a simple drawing editor built in for their own creations. My older son is very specific in his interests and loves that he can program using stuff that he likes.  My four year old directed the program pictured in this article - choosing the background and colors and telling me what to make the Beetle do.
  6. Scratch has lots of commands focused on movement and sensors which are just the sort of thing you need to control robots which is something my kids are already showing an interest in. Scratch will give them a headstart in working with those concepts.
  7. Building programs in Scratch is great for developing mathematical thinking because of the use of angles and coordinates.
  8. Scratch is popular enough that it gets extensions for popular technologies like the Raspberry Pi input / output pins and LEGO® Mindstorms. This means that the kids will be able to make robots and other interactive projects and control them from Scratch. 
  9. Scratch has active website and online community. As my kids get older they are likely to want to interact with other kids online. The Scratch community is a good place to do this and learn to share and collaborate with others. 
  10. Scratch is great fun and constructive. It doesn't feel like an educational activity though kids will learn loads while they are playing and creating. While I don't mind my kids watching (selected) YouTube videos and playing games, I'd rather some of their computer time is spent doing something constructive. Because Scratch is so enjoyable it's something they choose to do.
  11. Scratch is very much alive and being updated and improved. Scratch 2.0 goes live on May 9th 2013. (Beta available until May 5th.)

If your kids are a bit older that mine you might be concerned that Scratch isn't a 'real' programming language. Don't worry about this too much, programmers often have to switch languages and you can learn core concepts with any language and transfer the skills to others. And you can write some very sophisticated programs using Scratch. 

Scratch is an excellent introduction to programming for kids. We'll be trying out other tools as well, but I can see use spending lots of time with Scratch.

Get Started: Scratch Website

More:

SHARE:

Twitter Facebook Google Pinterest
24 days of Scratch coding book cover and cute penguin
Name

2013,13,2023,1,3d printing,5,3DTin,2,accessories,1,activities,1,adafruit,1,advent calendar,2,adventure games,1,amazon,13,amazon fire,2,amazon prime,1,android,6,angry birds,1,animation,6,anki,1,app,19,app toy,4,app toys,8,appcessories,1,apple,1,apps,25,arcbotics,1,architecture,4,arckit,9,arduino,33,art,1,artificial intelligence,5,astronauts,2,astronomy,1,augmented reality,11,automaton,1,awards,1,battle bots,2,battling robots,2,bedtime,1,big kids,103,big tablets,1,bigtrak,1,bike,1,binary,1,birthday,4,bitsbox,1,black friday,2,blockly,1,blogging,1,bloxels,1,bluetooth,2,board games,7,book,2,books,35,boolean box,1,breadboard,2,bricks,1,brixo,1,buying guide,11,camera,4,cameras,1,card game,1,careers,2,catroid,1,celebration,1,cellphone,1,ces,2,chemistry,2,chess,1,christmas,44,circuit cubes,1,circuit playground,8,circuit scribe,10,cleaning,1,climbing,1,code clubs,1,code-a-pillar,1,codebug,1,coder,2,coding,173,cognitive learning,1,communication,1,comparison,1,competition/challenges,9,computational thinking,3,computer,2,computer games,2,computer science,2,computer vision,2,computers,1,computing,1,conductive playdough,2,connected toys,7,construction,40,conversational ai,1,cozmo,1,craft,34,craft cutter,3,creative thinking,1,creativity,3,crochet,1,crowdfunding,120,css,1,cubs,1,curiosity,1,curious chip,1,cyber monday,1,dads,1,data,2,deals,4,dens,2,design,10,design process,1,design thinking,7,digital parenting,2,digital skills,13,disability,1,disney infinity,1,dog tech,1,dolls,2,drawing,2,drones,2,duinokit,1,earth day,1,Easter,4,ebooks,11,eco,1,edblocks,1,edison,5,edtech,1,education,79,egypt,1,electricity,1,electronic pets,2,electronic toys,2,electronics,141,electronics kit,4,electronics kits,1,electtronics,1,elementary,1,elenco,2,energy,1,engineering,17,entertainment,1,ereader,2,ereaders,6,esafety,1,escape the room,1,event,21,ewriter,1,exercise,4,family,12,family tech,2,fathers day,1,Festival of Code,1,fiction,1,fire,1,fitbit,1,fitness,1,fitness tracker,3,flotilla,3,flow charts,1,flutterbye fairy,1,flying,1,force awakens,2,force friday,2,future,2,gadgets,36,games,35,games console,2,games consoles,8,gaming,3,gift guide,55,gifts,12,girls,24,giveaway,4,glow in the dark,1,google,1,grace hopper,1,grove,1,hackaball,2,hacksoton,1,halloween,13,halloween costumes,1,hardware,3,headphones,1,health,1,hexbug,3,hexbug aquabots,1,hexbug project,1,high school,1,history,26,home,1,home education,2,homeschool,4,hot toys,7,hour of code,3,html,4,humanoid,4,ICT,1,in app purchasing,1,indiegogo,13,industry event,9,innotab,5,innotab 3,3,innotab 3s,1,internet access,1,interviews,1,invention,4,ios,3,IoT,4,ipad,7,ipad mini,1,iphone,2,jacquard,1,japan,1,java,1,javascript,5,k'nex,7,k'nex robotics,1,kano,8,keyboard,1,kickstarter,92,kids,3,kindle,7,kindle fire,8,kit,2,kits,5,kodu,1,kubo,1,label printer,1,languages,1,laptop,1,laptops,1,last minute,1,leap motion,1,leapfrog,2,leappad,7,leappad 2,3,leappad ultra,3,leappad2,1,leapreader,1,learning,5,learning resources,5,learning tablet,2,learning tablets,9,leds,2,lego,36,lego boost,1,lego chain reactions,1,lego mindstorms ev3,5,lego power functions,2,lego technic,5,lego wedo,2,let's start coding,1,lights,1,lightseekers,1,little kids,110,littlebits,16,logiblocs,1,logic,3,logical thinking,4,loom,1,machines,1,magnetic,1,make it,2,makeblock,16,makedo,1,maker,6,makey makey,6,making,54,mardles,1,mars,1,mars rover,1,marty,1,math,3,maths,1,mbot,6,mbot ranger,1,me arm,1,meccano,6,meccanoid,5,meccanoid 2.0,1,merge vr,1,mews,1,michael faraday,1,micro:bit,9,microbit,6,microcontroller,5,microscope,1,microsoft,2,middle school,6,miles kelly,1,mindstorms,3,minecraft,21,minecraft mods,1,mixed reality,1,mobile,2,modular electronics,2,monsters university,1,morse code,2,mothers day,4,motion capture,1,motors,2,mover kit,3,movie,1,movies,4,mu,1,mu toys,1,munzee,1,music,10,my first robot,2,national dog day,1,nature,1,new,1,new year,1,news,170,news coding,1,nikola tesla,1,nintendo,2,nintendo switch,3,ohbot,3,ollie,3,on the web,1,opinion,19,origami,1,osmo,4,outdoors,13,ouya,1,ozobot,10,papercraft,3,paperwhite,1,parental controls,2,parenting,34,parrot,1,pc,1,people,8,pet tech,2,pets,3,phone,1,photography,1,photon,1,physics,3,pi day,1,picks,2,pimoroni,1,pinoccio,1,pixel kit,1,pixelart,4,play,2,playstation 4,3,plezmo,1,pocket code,1,pocket money,1,pokemon,4,pokemon go,4,poll,1,pre order,1,pre-teens,2,prehistory,1,preschoolers,42,primary,41,printable,1,products,34,professor einstein,1,programming,15,project,102,projects,12,puzzles,4,python,10,racing,1,raspberry pi,29,reading,12,reivew,1,remote control,1,research,3,resource,34,resources,2,retro,2,review,223,rights,1,robot,11,robot dog,1,robot fish,1,robot wars,3,ROBOTERRA,1,roboticals,1,robotics,32,robots,140,role models,1,role play,1,romo,1,romotive,1,root,1,rover,1,safety,2,sam labs,6,samuel morse,1,sandbox,1,schools,3,science,16,scratch,48,scratchjr,3,screen time,2,screenless,15,screens,1,sensors,5,servos,1,simbrix,7,skills,1,skylanders,3,skylanders superchargers,1,skylanders swap force,1,smart pens,1,smartphone,1,smartwatch,1,snap circuits,2,social media,1,solar power,2,soldering,2,sonic pi,1,sony koov,1,sound,3,space,9,sparki,2,speaker,3,speech sythesis,1,sphero,12,sphero mini,1,spider,2,star wars,6,stars,1,STEAM,1,stem,10,stikbot,1,stop motion,2,stop motion studio,1,storage,1,story,2,strawbees,2,students,1,subscription,5,subscriptions,1,sugru,1,summer,7,swift,1,tablet,3,tablets,23,tangible coding,2,tech,3,tech age,1,tech craft,4,tech is bad,7,tech is good,4,tech toys,21,tech will save us,10,technology,2,technology will save us,3,teens,64,teknikio,3,tekno,1,teksta,1,tenka labs,1,tesla,1,textiles,1,thames & kosmos,2,the extraordinaires,1,tim berners lee,1,tinkercad,1,tinybop,3,toddlers,9,toot-toot,1,top pick,9,touch,1,toy,1,toys,5,travelling,1,TTS,1,TV,1,tween,1,tweens,119,tynker,2,typing,1,ux,1,vehicles,1,videos,3,view-master,1,views,10,virtual reality,8,voice assistants,1,voice recognition,2,vr,4,vtech,8,web,2,websites,1,wifi,1,wii,2,wii u,2,windows 8,1,wonder workshop,9,wowwee,2,writing,7,writing. education,1,xbox one,2,xyzprinting,1,
ltr
item
Tech Age Kids | Technology for Children: Why I like Scratch as an Introduction to Programming for Kids
Why I like Scratch as an Introduction to Programming for Kids
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHEQd461_v9VqPdEUofIUCOB5COvJMcT4V6XEvLwFeWXLiZG5_sbSv_sWP_CsVhrOT1-JzV50AtMEN9bqm1zg0IcFCe3-uXj-N1MZyOIdEooCSkGaB90hsEXGnvXv-viODcJlC8FB0Uy4/s1600/why-we-love-scratch.png
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHEQd461_v9VqPdEUofIUCOB5COvJMcT4V6XEvLwFeWXLiZG5_sbSv_sWP_CsVhrOT1-JzV50AtMEN9bqm1zg0IcFCe3-uXj-N1MZyOIdEooCSkGaB90hsEXGnvXv-viODcJlC8FB0Uy4/s72-c/why-we-love-scratch.png
Tech Age Kids | Technology for Children
https://www.techagekids.com/2013/05/why-i-like-scratch-as-introduction-to.html
https://www.techagekids.com/
https://www.techagekids.com/
https://www.techagekids.com/2013/05/why-i-like-scratch-as-introduction-to.html
true
15639169850959392
UTF-8
Loaded All Posts Not found any posts VIEW ALL Read more Reply Cancel reply Delete By Home PAGES POSTS View All RECOMMENDED FOR YOU LABEL ARCHIVE SEARCH ALL POSTS Not found any post match with your request Back Home Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat January February March April May June July August September October November December Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec just now 1 minute ago $$1$$ minutes ago 1 hour ago $$1$$ hours ago Yesterday $$1$$ days ago $$1$$ weeks ago more than 5 weeks ago Followers Follow THIS PREMIUM CONTENT IS LOCKED STEP 1: Share to a social network STEP 2: Click the link on your social network Copy All Code Select All Code All codes were copied to your clipboard Can not copy the codes / texts, please press [CTRL]+[C] (or CMD+C with Mac) to copy