5 of The Best iPad Apps for Teaching Kids Coding Through Games

October 14, 2015
Coding is believed to be the 21st century literacy par excellence. Codes make up the totality of our digital world. They are a universal language that every computer speak. Teaching kids coding will not only enable them to better understand the digital world surrounding them but, more importantly, will equip them with skills integral to their overall learning. Coding is all about creativity, imagination, problem solving and strategic thinking.

There is a wide variety of ways to make learning programming and coding a fun an enjoyable task for kids. One of them is through the use of engaging and interactive games. Below is a collection of some of the most popular iPad apps for helping kids learn coding through games. Check them out and share with us if you have other suggestions.

1- Tynker

Tynker is an excellent website for teaching students coding. Students will get to learn the fundamentals of coding and programming through game-like puzzles, tutorials, stories and several interactive activities.Tynker also provides a wide variety of educational resources for teachers and educators. Some of these include: ready-to-use , grade specific lesson plans, STEM project templates that integrate coding across the curriculum, automatic assessment and powerful tracking tools for a better classroom management and many more.

2- Robozzle

‘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. With beautiful graphics, a painstakingly crafted user interface, and unique game play Robozzle for iPhone is a must have for anyone who thinks they are good at puzzles. With hundreds of hours of game play, this is one that you won't be putting down soon.’

3- Lightbot

‘Lightbot is a programming puzzle game, meaning that its game mechanics require the use of programming logic to solve levels. By simply guiding a robot to light up tiles to solve levels, players cultivate a real understanding of procedures, loops, and conditionals; core concepts to Computer Science. Perfect for guys and girls alike: you can play as Boybot or Girlbot!’

4- Kodable

‘Kodable – Programming Curriculum for Elementary This award winning game and accompanying curriculum, is designed to teach the basics of computer coding to kids 5 and up. ’

5- Cargo-Bot

Over one million people have enjoyed Cargo-Bot! The puzzle game that challenges your brain and helps you learn programming concepts.It's a puzzle game where you teach a robot how to move crates.’

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Interactive Mini-quizzes and Tutorials to Teach Students Coding

September 1, 2015
Besides the various coding apps and tools we have shared here in the past few months, today we are featuring another two important iPad coding apps that have recently made the news in the EdTech world. The apps are ideal to use with your students to introduce them to the world of programming and coding through the use of interactive tutorials and engaging mini-quizzes. Both of these apps are free to install and the introductory tutorials are also free but to unlock other content you will have to do an in-app purchase.

1- Swifty

Swifty provides over 200 simple interactive tutorials to help you learn everything you need to start programming. The tutorials range from the basics, and advances topics like classes, optionals and tuples. The first chapter is free. Unlock all others with a single in-app purchase! Once purchased, you'll be eligible for all future additions and updates. Pretty sweet, huh?

2- Lrn

Len is an iPad app that teaches you coding through interactive min-quizzes.  It offers over 50 free mini-quizzes and another 120+ mini-quizzes can be unlocked in the app. ‘You will gain an understanding of how to read, write and speak the language of programming. No experience, internet or keyboard necessary. It is time to become fluent in code!’

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7 Excellent iPad Apps to Teach Students Coding and Programming

August, 2015

Coding is one of the most demanded skills in the 21st century learning. There is a growing need for teaching students the fundamentals of coding and computer programming not only because these are the skills needed for the future job market but also because coding allows learners to better understand their digitally focused life and therefore enhance their interaction with digital media. 

We have already featured a plethora of interesting resources, apps, and tools that teachers and parents can draw on to introduce coding to their kids. However, today and as part of the back-to-school goodies we have been sharing here during this week, we are sharing with you this list comprising some of the best iPad apps to use with students to introduce and teach them about coding and programming. 

1- Daisy The Dinosaur

Learn the basics of computer programming with Daisy the Dinosaur! This free, fun app has an easy drag and drop interface that kids of all ages can use to animate Daisy to dance across the screen. Kids will intuitively grasp the basics of objects, sequencing, loops and events by solving this app's challenges. After playing Daisy, kids can choose to download a kit to program their own computer game.

2- Hopscotch

Hopscotch teaches kids to code using simple, intuitive building blocks. Kids can create games, animations and other programs in this colorful, interactive environment. Program your characters to move, draw, and collide with each other, and use shaking, tilting, or even shouting at the iPad to control them. Hopscotch was inspired by MIT’s Scratch and gives kids a creative way to learn the fundamentals of computer programming.

3- Bee-Bot 

'The new Bee-Bot App from TTS Group has been developed based on our well-loved, award-winning Bee-Bot floor robot. The app makes use of Bee-Bot's keypad functionality and enables children to improve their skills in directional language and programming through sequences of forwards, backwards, left and right 90 degree turns.'

4- Cargo-Bot

Cargo-Bot is a puzzle game where you teach a robot how to move crates. Some of the features that Cargo-Bot:

• Beautiful retina graphics
• Fiendish puzzles
• A game about programming, programmed entirely on iPad
• Record your solutions and share them on YouTube
•  Learn more about how it was made by searching for Codea on the App Store

5- Move The Turtle

'Move The Turtle is an educational application for iPhone and iPad that teaches children the basics of creating computer programs, using intuitive graphic commands.  Do you remember the Logo programming language? A friendly Turtle will introduce your child step by step to the basic concepts of programming in a colourful graphic environment. Who knows, maybe your child will be the next outstanding programmer!'

6- Tynker

Solve fun puzzles and learn to code. Simply drag & drop visual code blocks and program your characters to beat the level. The first adventure includes 20 puzzles that are free to play. Additional adventures and puzzle levels are available as in-app purchases.

7- CoderDojo

CoderDojo is a free coding club where kids around the world learn how to express themselves with digital tools, make cool stuff and have fun. The CoderDojo app is a handy way to get the latest news, tweets, images and coding resources from CoderDojos, and also lets you locate the nearest CoderDojo.

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Another Powerful App for Teaching Kids Coding

March 20, 2015
Pyonkee is a powerful iPad app for teaching kids and adults about coding. Pyonkee  has been developed from the open source code of the popular coding app Scratch from MIT Media lab. This means that learners can use millions of Scratch projects for reference.

Pyonkee provides student friendly programming environment where  kids can use it to learn programming through engaging games and activities. They will also get to program their own games, animations and stories and boost their creative and collaborative skills.

Pyonkee’s user interface is optimized for touch interfaces. It also supports pinch out/in display and font scaling for some devices. Sound recorder and camera are also provided for importing your sounds and pictures into the projects.

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Tynker- Teach Kids Coding Through Puzzles and Interactive Games

February 15, 2015
Yesterday when posted about Code Blast, which is a coding app for iPad, somebody requested an app that could do the same but on Android.Of course there are several titles out there but the one I would recommend the most is Tynker. This is basically a visual programming language designed to assist kids learn how to program and code by soling puzzles, building interactive apps and games. Tynker works both on Android and iPad.

Some of the interesting features Tynker provides  include:

• Learn coding by solving over 200 puzzles
• Design and create interactive games and animations
• Offline access
• Create classrooms with multiple students accounts
• Monitor students progress
• Create and publish a class showcase with best student projects

Google Kickstarter Guides has this wonderful guide explaining in-depth how you can use this app in your classrooms.

Watch the video below to learn more about Tynker

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Excellent iPad App to Introduce your Kids to Coding

February 14, 2015
Code Blast is an excellent coding app that has gone free today for a limited period of time. This app is designed to provide young learners and kids with a solid initiation into the world of programming concepts and problem solving.

Code Blast teaches kids coding through fun and engaging activities consisting of programming a rocket to reach its final destination without being damaged by UFOs and other electric barriers found in its course. In running the mission, kids get to develop a series of key programming concepts and thinking skills such as : precise and accurate programming, forward planning to solve anticipated problems, ordering instructions sequentially and many more.

Some of the features Code Blast contain are:

•  36 missions, gradually increasing in difficulty with extra obstacles and challenges!
• 2 modes - ‘Level Mode’ - Missions are gradually unlocked to ensure a secure understanding.
• ‘Custom Mode’ - Practise any mission at any time.
• Save multiple games - Perfect for home and school!
•  Stars awarded for completing missions without ‘bugs’ to motivate children to persevere and revisit.
•  Certificates awarded upon completing levels which can be saved to the camera roll for printing or emailing!
• Animated demos

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