Everyday there are more and more different systems for teaching kids how to program.
The most famous of all of them is Scratch. It is one of my favorite tools for teaching children to program. It does a great job at teaching the flow of programming and logical thinking. Another really good logical style tool is Microsoft’s MakeCode. They are very similar. They both are very useful if you are serious about learning programming.
However, some people are afraid of the word programming, so another approach is artistic. In Japan, Viscuit is very popular. Viscuit is an extremely artistic first programming style. With not too much stress put into logic and flow.
Recently, big name game studios are using Unity and Unreal game engines to make their games. These two game engines allow you to program without even typing code. They use a system called Node Based programming. You connect boxes called nodes together with links to make them communicate and control each other.
There is an amazing game for Switch that teaches Node Based programming to children. The English title is “Game Builder Garage” or “ナビつき! つくってわかる はじめてゲームプログラミング“* in Japanese.
With the program I made in the image below I was able to easily make the mini game in the video above. I highly recommend this Switch game if your child is serious about becoming a programmer in the future. However, it can be fairly difficult, so don’t expect your child to do it on their own. You will need to help and support your child.
*The link to Amazon is an affiliate link, so any purchase from the link supports EXOMUT.
