9yr old son wants to learn to code

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Fuelvin@reddit

Try [CodeWisp](https://codewisp.net/). It's a free coding platform similar to Scratch but it uses actual code. Really easy to get started

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Lock him in a room with a laptop that doesn't have a wifi card, the laptop runs archlinux and only has vim installed Give him a book on either python, C++ or some other programming language, tell them they will be let out if they manage to code a perfect replica of snake, with a GUI that resembles a classic Nokia surrounding the window. In order to construct the Nokia they will be forced to code a new Photoshop replacement, as well as learn graphic design by trial and error, release this for free on the internet to ruin Adobe whilst also giving him programmer clout or whatever he may use for easier employment in 3 years. By the time he manages to leave he will be perfectly prepared for 4 different careers, as well as just crazy enough to look at code for 25 hours every day and earn trillions at google, Amazon and Meta simultaneously For more detailed instructions you can purchase my course as 9.99 phased out German franks per fortnight, I do not accept any other form of currency as I do not trust anything

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DotGlobal8483@reddit

Honestly, I recommend love2d. Scratch is good and a great stepping stone, and thats fine. Love2d however uses scripting and lua (which is a super easy language to learn), its 2d but it's pretty capable. However the main thing is it includes some of the "harder" parts of game development being things like storing images. It's more difficult to get into but it's more traditional and runs on the computer.

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voidvec@reddit

Godot. Fully open source game engine with a very python like scripting language. it free , feature complete , powerful and easy to use.

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recontitter@reddit

I can highly recommend Microsoft’s fork, or should I call it implementation, of Scratch which they call makeCode - https://arcade.makecode.com or just vanilla Scratch.

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Tobacco_Caramel@reddit

He should be a child.

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youngggggg@reddit

it seems like his interest in it from a creative place and not trying to secure a job

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Tobacco_Caramel@reddit

Idk mate, i just don't like it and I'm overly cautious to it. Let a kid do kid stuff like playing with others, with toys, fool around, clays, legos, climb trees and do some sort of sports. It's just that some kids stuck doing piano and violin for 10,000 hours before they reach teenage years can lead to burnouts and such. Those kids aren't even trying to become a rockstar/work in the industry. Society nowadays has bias and equates knowing how to code/play music at a young age = better humans. I'm not being anti tech here or something. Let kids be kids and there's time to code for later. Kids nowadays live in a screen, adding programming to that will worsen it. There's no harm if he starts doing it at 13, 15 or 20. Sure. A 9 year-old saying “I want to code” often means they saw something cool and want to make one. That is being curious to creativity. I fully support it if the kid is gonna lead the way and on their own pace whatever they're able to do and improve.

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youngggggg@reddit

yeah I see your point, 9 is pretty early haha

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grantrules@reddit

Look into [FIRST Lego League](https://www.firstlegoleague.org/)

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RevolutionarySet4993@reddit

Get him on assembly ASAP

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ravenousld3341@reddit

Scratch has been recommended by people here. I second that. I'd also recommend a couple of books called "Code the Classics" https://store.rpipress.cc/products/code-the-classics-volume-1-2nd-edition You use python to make games with step by step instructions. Also if you want to get them their own device to work on. https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-400-unit/ It's pretty cheap and easy to set up. I think there may be a more expensive bundle that included a mouse, cables, power supply, and a book on how it all works.

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Aglet_Green@reddit

He is still in single digits. Tomorrow he might want to be a lawyer or a superhero or a pirate. Either way, MIT Scratch can help him: It is designed for those 8-12 or so: [https://scratch.mit.edu](https://scratch.mit.edu)

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lilrouani@reddit

I thought you were going to recommend him the free MIT "Introduction to CS and Programming using Python" course.

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besseddrest@reddit

ok but what is the link for pirate school

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TheRealDSAL@reddit

its really good at teaching u the basics like variables and lists.

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Aglet_Green@reddit

Agreed.

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No_Analyst5945@reddit

Scratch is not ideal. Throw him into the trenches. C++

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kikazztknmz@reddit

My daughter at 7 wanted to be a paleontologist. At 8, wanted to be a teacher. At 9, a professor of paleontology. Such great ages! She's grown now and is more of an artist taking classes to get into IT. You never know.

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ObeseBumblebee@reddit

All you can do is support them no matter what.

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arasitar@reddit

> Tomorrow he might want to be a lawyer or a superhero or a pirate This can be a good opportunity for a kid to learn discipline, breaking down projects into smaller tasks, to delay gratification, to make a plan, to work through discomfort, anxiety and uncertainty, and to solve problems on their own, and to feel something tangible that you build by yourself. Regardless of whether this kid goes on to become a full fledged software engineer, it is still good to transfer those experiences and skills to other fields.

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-a_normal_human-@reddit

Yes absolutely, I started with Scratch when I was around that age and it was great.

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InfraScaler@reddit

\+++this is the right answer. My little one has been toying with Scratch for about 4-5 years and he's 9 now. There are countless tutorials and books you two can follow together to make simple games. That'll give your son a sense of accomplishment early while exposing him to concepts like variables and loops.

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autodialerbroken116@reddit

Highly recommend two MIT languages: scratch and scheme. A good introductory book for young coders is the little schemer.

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Nervous-Hat-4203@reddit

I second this. Scratch is great for kids around OP's son age

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Immereally@reddit

Second that. Scratch is a great way for kids to start (even adults) and it can be versatile. Some of the projects people put up are decent games in their own right.

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redditor000121238@reddit

Try scratch really. But show him SOME real coding as well. Very basic, no need to get complex. This will tell whether he can be interested in coding or not.

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SeagullSolicitor@reddit

I recommend \[Scratch\](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=mit+scratch&t=brave&ia=web). It's a visual programming tool aimed for children to use, but I know Harvard also uses it for their famous free CS50 course. Lots of visuals and potential for games.

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rokomotto@reddit

I was introduced to Scratch when I was like 14 or something and thought it was super cool I could make games in it. The kid might really like that so long as he has somebody that can actually teach him. Unless he's set on making GTA5 or something then he might become disinterested eventually. The whole thing about "making small games" (to build on to bigger ones) is tough to swallow even for adults.

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plueschhoernchen@reddit

You can get pretty complex with it too though, which is great

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GameSchaedl@reddit

On steam: The Farmer Was Replaced Its quite a simple game where you learn basic stuff from Python by controlling a drone.

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plueschhoernchen@reddit

I see scratch being recommended a lot here, which I would suggest too. I would further recommend code.org, which even has a minecraft themed course (and I think it's free) A few years ago, I would have recommended code combat, but it's locked behind a paywall now

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paranoid_giraffe@reddit

I learned programming from Roblox around his age and it fueled my interest to eventually become an engineer. I would have recommended roblox in the past but it has become problematic as of late

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No_Analyst5945@reddit

Roblox Lua is pretty garbage though tbh, the language itself is good but the documentation is the worst I’ve had to deal with. Plus Roblox is quite problematic now as you said

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paranoid_giraffe@reddit

The doc, wikis, and object browser were enough to get me “Roblox famous” back when my place was popular around 2008 so honestly I’d have to disagree. It might be dated and not as good as other popular languages today but it’s enough to make some very incredible things. I haven’t used Lua in 15 years but it was definitely a good starter language for children who are curious and willing to put in the time. Pragmatically it might not be as useful as say learning Python and being able to hold that skill into adulthood, but the fact that it’s tied to the Roblox game itself was enough to hold my interest for about 4 years or so of almost daily play and ultimately drive me towards my current career.

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No_Analyst5945@reddit

The wiki was pretty good in the old days. But in 2022 it was so bad. I couldn’t even find out how to make a gun projectile shoot because evehtbjng kept saying depreciated. Then it says “view this thing instead”, and that thing was also deprecated. I just got fed up and left tbh. I felt like if I learnt py instesd of lua I would’ve been a better programmer

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paranoid_giraffe@reddit

Aw man, sorry to hear about that. The wiki was pretty sparse back in the day too but at least there weren’t a whole lot of deprecated entries. Most of my early learning came from tearing apart other players stuff and changing numbers and such around until I learned what did what. That and the scripting forums (which I believe have been also shut down?). Not sure, it’s been a decade since I sincerely browsed the site with interest. They definitely need to clean up the wiki/docs though if that’s the case. Teaching kids to be able to find appropriate-reading-level answers in documentation is foundational to good programming. I hope they clean up some of the shady parts of the site but from what I’ve seen it’s only going to get much worse before/if anything gets better. It’s seriously a shame. I was looking forward to showing my son Roblox to keep his interest in STEM going but for a couple years I’ve been leaning towards not.

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plastic_Man_75@reddit

Making oblivion mods did mine. Wish I would've kept up

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Rich841@reddit

Scratch or Khan academy.

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focusandbrio@reddit

Let him first try html then css. Kids likes colorful things

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No_Analyst5945@reddit

Bro code’s Java playlist or Bro code’s C++ playlist. Then you move onto DSA. Everything can be found on YouTube and the guys there are pretty good

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Intelligent_Skill78@reddit

7 billion humans the game in android or PC. let him play with it. para madevelop logic. mas mhalaga yan kesa mag memorize ng syntax sa mga languages.

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kcl97@reddit

Do not use any website especially if they are free. They can gather info from your son with him or you knowing. Instead, how about doing some competitive logic/puzzle games with him or have him play with a friend or cousin? I recommend games like chess. Most programmers play chess in some capacity. They also have non-classical chess games with different rules. Coding is really nothing but logical algorithmic thinking. So playing chess is a good way to practice one's brain for coding.

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ZNioreGames@reddit (OP)

He plays chess and strategy games. He wants to learn coding

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kcl97@reddit

Okay, get him a Raspberry Pi, an old monitor with keyboard and mouse, and membership to O'Reilly's Safari books. Whatever you do, do not let him learn by himself unguided. Guide him but do not interfere. Your job is to supervise but not direct. Online is a dangerous place. This of course means YOU have to learn too. This is why it is best to help guide him to things you are more comfortable with, aka ***easy*** for you but ***hard*** for him. It is easy to say one plays chess like saying one can float in water. But it is very difficult to swim and swim fast. It's up to you. I am merely suggesting a way out. The fact is coding is hardly the most interesting in life. If anything, playing video games is probably more important. Good games of course, not trash games. It is like eating vegetables versus eating fried chicken wings. I recommend retro games with emulators and learn how to beat it by rewriting the game memories. That's programming too and it is hard, very hard because no one can teach you how. You have to trial and error.

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NoForm5443@reddit

As another possibility, check https://gamemaker.io/en

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idk_01@reddit

Go BASIC first. You can get him going on VBA through Excel.

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AwkwardSpread@reddit

Don’t want him to get frustrated immediately :)

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GarThor_TMK@reddit

[Microsoft MakeCode](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/makecode?msockid=250923ca55b664343be2359254c06599) has some interesting learning programs for code... Been a while since I looked at them, but it might get them thinking about programming. 9 is a perfect age to start btw. I remember coding my first program using a BASIC coding manual on my parent's Atari 800xl... ascii-based ski-free ftw! :D

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MagicalPizza21@reddit

Code Combat?

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Rocket_da_Bird@reddit

Maybe you can teach him pseudocode. It's essentially programming logic.

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Last_Being9834@reddit

Arduino, Raspberry Pi and Scratch. Also Jhonny-Five is a great JS library for Arduino. Buy a bunch of sensors, LEDs, motors, install scratch and let your kid imagination fly! There's a catch, you need to be careful with electricity as you might accidentally fry your Arduino or Raspberry if you don't correctly connect things.

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SkyDwag187@reddit

I,m 10 with just a phone, learning to code in C

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raedamof911@reddit

Idk choose a simple book I head a book that teaches using the Magna method (like comics style) , support your kid and also use SMART method to achieve their goals. Also, touch typing may help. Just don't push too hard always let them have a break and be a kid. Kids learn better while playing imo

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Aggressive_Ad_5454@reddit

Raspberry pi computer, if you can spare the cash.

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MisterBicorniclopse@reddit

Scratch is perfect!

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Aggressive_Ad_5454@reddit

And, they’re a university project (MIT) with scrupulous protection of personal data. Not part of the surveillance economy.

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Silver-Turnover1667@reddit

I heard this somewhere else, but the goal is to get close enough to get kids interested and have fun without actually doing the work. If they like that, that’s fine, but coding isn’t really a typical ‘fun’ experience. But being code adjacent can be.

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Jazzlike_Assignment2@reddit

Scratch or Free Code Camp are some solid resources

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taker223@reddit

Is, by any chance, your son's name Kevin? Billy? Steve?

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taker223@reddit

I remember Elon Musk's son saying Shut Up to POTUS right in the Oval Office, on record.

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cherry_pi_oh_my@reddit

Raspberry Pi, Arduino or something similar might be a nice gift. They have starter sets and workbooks.

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bruschghorn@reddit

Depends how much he wants and how much he is into computers. If it's a passion, let him learn C and assembly.

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plastic_Man_75@reddit

Scratch

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QuietFartOutLoud@reddit

When you're programming or learning a new language or watching someone else do it the most helpful thing to understand off the bat is the greatest deterrent to programming is setting up the environment so that the code can even run. So the top 5 languages are going to be javascript because you can just code in any browser tab. Then C# if you're working with Windows 10 or 11 the setup should be trivial and just get one of the visual studio express editions or vscode. Python, just install it, I don't think there's much more setup than that. C, depending on what you're programming C for and compiling it with (using LLVM and Clang instead of msvc is going to be more difficult) Java, with Java you basically have to install the runtine and jdk. Depending on what you're doing, whether it's making desktop apps or web apps with JSP or something it's going to vary in difficulty setting it up.

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countsachot@reddit

Scratch https://scratch.mit.edu/about

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TOPHATANT123@reddit

Game Maker!

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zhivago@reddit

I'd consider makecode as well, particularly for microbit integration. Also the arcade game support.

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Logical-Idea-1708@reddit

~Scratch is too easy for 9 year old. Get him a book on Python.~ Join a local LEGO league. Learning to code just for the sake of it is the best way to kill an interest. You need a goal, then use code to solve the problem.

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IfJohnBrownHadAMecha@reddit

If he's a book learner, Python Crash Course is good. First half of the book goes over all the basics of the language, second half goes into actual projects including a game.

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cscottnet@reddit

Lots of books based on pygame, any of those should work.

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Alaska-Kid@reddit

Google the TIC-80. This is real programming. When I was 9, it was zx-Spectrum and BASIC. Now it's TIC-80 and Lua. Then you can move on to professional tools like Godot.

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mm_reads@reddit

Yep, I was 9 when I started BASIC on a TS-80 in 1981. Lots of great options these days. If a kid has an interest, feed it! The more interests, the better.

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HashDefTrueFalse@reddit

I started at 10. He might enjoy Processing. It's a language that makes it easy to write code that does visual things. It's for learning how to code (among other things). It's what some universities use to teach people who've never programmed before. It's text-based, so doesn't feel gimmicky. The reason I never recommend drag-and-drop languages (like Scratch) is because my partner works in schools and sees them used. Kids don't seem to like them much. I think it feels babyish to them, or like they didn't really code their program. Just a guess, I'm sure there are success stories. No need to spend any money as long as he has access to a computer.

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thegeekgolfer@reddit

I taught myself when I was 13 on a Commodore Vic20 back in 1981 ... make him figure it out. Ha ,ha, just kidding, it's great he wants to learn. I got out of it mostly, hopefully he finds joy in it and sticks with it.

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captainAwesomePants@reddit

There are a lot of suggestions here but it mostly comes down to your son. When my son was 9, suggesting something like Python would not have been an option, but it is for some kids. Same for courses with lots of lengthy videos. I got my son playing with Microsoft Make:Code which was a pretty good start, but the downside is the games are very simple. Also depends on what kinds of game they are motivated by. If they really care mostly about Minecraft mods and only Minecraft mods, that's a different answer.

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ZNioreGames@reddit (OP)

While he enjoys modded minecraft he says his end goal is building vr games

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Ok-Comfort-6752@reddit

Then try Tynker, it has a function that lets you code things in Minecraft similar to mods, also try scratch for 2d games. He will probably also have fun with these. If he wants to go further then try MCreator (a simple tool to make real Minecraft mods), and when he already knows Scratch I would try a programming language like python. For VR games I think he would need to learn Unity or Unreal, maybe Godot. Easiest from these is probably visual coding in Unreal but before he can do that he needs to at least master the basic concepts in scratch.

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Member9999@reddit

I may be the oddball for saying this... but may I recommend Python? It's user-friendly and a legit language used in multiple fields, and switching frop Python to GDScript in Godot or another fork of it. Python is also used in some robotics, if he ever gets bored with games. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/python/python-for-kids/

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youssflep@reddit

everyone saying Scratch and they're right, it is fun and easy to make simple games. My highschool coding course started with it, and after that we switched to "true languages"; so in case he is still interested after doing enough of Scratch, you can buy him an Arduino to make practical stuff in real life(mind you it uses a real programming language, so it might be complicated for his age), just do some research first if it's what he likes and if you're willing to back him up on it. While Scratch is free a lot of Arduino components are pricey , so again do some research :) I wish him a fun path on learning

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disney550@reddit

Bro teach him how to walk

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Sehrli_Magic@reddit

I really recommend scratch website. It is essentially a child friendly game but will give him freedom to make something himself (especially if you are adding your own backgrounds, icons etc) and it is a very simplified way to learn all the basic concepts in programming. Getting comfortable with it makes learning of any language easier later + you have that additional confidence of already having some projects to show

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johanngr@reddit

The game Turing Complete on Steam is great, he will be an expert in no time

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mantenner@reddit

I learned to code with a great little educational program called greenfoot. It is OOP, teaches things like instantiation and inheritance and we were able to make some pretty cool things with it. It's also free and has some good demos.

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