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Ask HN: Good game tutorials for kids programming

29 points by ajaxguy 7y ago

I have tried to teach my 10yr old to learn programming for past few months with scratch and basic html stuff. He is not much interested in scratch and picked up html/css and showing interest to develop simple games with it. Seeking ideas from fellow hners for below topics. How to engage kids for constant interest in the programming? How did you get past of the stage of loosing interest now and then to kids? What can I teach him for basic gaming tutorials with html/css?

random_comment 7y ago
Zachtronics: Start with e.g. opus magnum. Visual, will teach basic concepts of sequencing instructions, iteration etc. Then Shenzhen I/O if they enjoy it Alternatively: Human resource machine (programming) 7 billion humans (parallel programming, probably will teach antipatterns but still useful) Alternatively: LOGO. This is how I learned to program back in the 80s. Drawing pictures. Draw a line. Rotate. Make a square by writing a loop to draw a line and rotate 4 times. Make a window by drawing a square + 2 more lines. Make a house by drawing a window and doors. Even at university I remember the first year programming course included a 'draw a house using ALGOL' exercise.
- ajaxguy 7y ago
  Do you have links for these both?
he11ow 7y ago
One, here are two lists of online games to teach coding, first list is for CSS, other is for WebDev. Frankly, I've bookmarked them for myself, they look so cute. https://dev.to/paco_ita/train-your-css-skills-with-online-games-4ah3 https://dev.to/paco_ita/train-your-css-skills-with-online-ga... https://dev.to/paco_ita/train-your-javascript-skills-with-online-games-289m https://dev.to/paco_ita/train-your-javascript-skills-with-on... Two, why not set your kid up with PyCharm, and start dabbling together with Python. (like build a simple chatbot or something that pulls stuff from Wiki).
- vo2maxer 7y ago
  Thanks. Checking the links out together with my 10 year old daughter. I’ve also used these and she likes them: https://www.tynker.com/ https://www.tynker.com/ https://studio.code.org/courses https://studio.code.org/courses https://codekingdoms.com/ https://codekingdoms.com/ https://codecombat.com/ https://codecombat.com/
  - ajaxguy 7y ago
    Thanks. Tynker looks good and will try with that.
electronstudio 7y ago
I have been teaching kids games programming with Python. I have compiled some of the material I created into a book here: https://github.com/electronstudio/pygame-zero-book https://github.com/electronstudio/pygame-zero-book The only way I have found to maintain interest is to do fewer toy examples and more full-size games, but that also inevitably leads to the kids not understanding so much of what they are doing. I think ultimately you have to accept that some kids will be interested in coding and some will not, no matter how 'fun' you make it.
sn9 7y ago
How to Design Programs and Realm of Racket.
McKayDavis 7y ago
I recommend you take a look at Roblox Studio [1]. My 10yo started out by building simple 3D Obby (obstacle course) games in a manner of minutes with no initial programming. Trough that initial interest he will now modify and even create Lua scripts to perform more complex game actions. The Lua scripting engine + API is simple but at the same time powerful and allows for very complex games. There is also a quite active Roblox Developer forum [2], and good documentation of their API [3]. I don't push him much, and allow him to learn Lua / programming in gneral at his own pace. The game aspect definitely keeps his interest that I'm not so sure he would otherwise have. [1] https://roblox.com/create https://roblox.com/create [2] https://devforum.roblox.com https://devforum.roblox.com [3] https://developer.roblox.com https://developer.roblox.com Disclaimer: I work for Roblox on the Studio team now. This is largely due to my positive experience with Roblox Studio well before I even considered working for the company.
- ajaxguy 7y ago
  He works on chromebook and this studio doesn't have web version it seems. Do you have any alternative to it?
lurker2 7y ago
You should take a look at Processing 3 (a graphical Java). My dad introduced me to it at about 12yrs. All he did was give me a YouTube playlist to work through and it has held my interest till this day. I would say any framework with a narrow focus on graphics and instant graphical feedback (like SFML for C++) would be great for kids or any beginner. Also, Khan Academy has great resources based on ProcessingJS and even a simple submission board with a community of other young learners.
0_gravitas 7y ago
might be a bit of a wildcard, but i would consider checking out Factorio. may god help your kid if he actually gets into it though
maynman 7y ago
Shameless plug, but I've written a few simple game tutorials on my blog. Minesweeper, Snake, Tic Tac Toe, Hangman, etc. https://mitchum.blog/game-tutorials/ https://mitchum.blog/game-tutorials/

29 points by ajaxguy 7y ago

random_comment 7y ago

Zachtronics: Start with e.g. opus magnum. Visual, will teach basic concepts of sequencing instructions, iteration etc. Then Shenzhen I/O if they enjoy it Alternatively: Human resource machine (programming) 7 billion humans (parallel programming, probably will teach antipatterns but still useful) Alternatively: LOGO. This is how I learned to program back in the 80s. Drawing pictures. Draw a line. Rotate. Make a square by writing a loop to draw a line and rotate 4 times. Make a window by drawing a square + 2 more lines. Make a house by drawing a window and doors. Even at university I remember the first year programming course included a 'draw a house using ALGOL' exercise.

ajaxguy 7y ago
Do you have links for these both?

he11ow 7y ago

One, here are two lists of online games to teach coding, first list is for CSS, other is for WebDev. Frankly, I've bookmarked them for myself, they look so cute. https://dev.to/paco_ita/train-your-css-skills-with-online-games-4ah3 https://dev.to/paco_ita/train-your-css-skills-with-online-ga... https://dev.to/paco_ita/train-your-javascript-skills-with-online-games-289m https://dev.to/paco_ita/train-your-javascript-skills-with-on... Two, why not set your kid up with PyCharm, and start dabbling together with Python. (like build a simple chatbot or something that pulls stuff from Wiki).

vo2maxer 7y ago
Thanks. Checking the links out together with my 10 year old daughter. I’ve also used these and she likes them: https://www.tynker.com/ https://www.tynker.com/ https://studio.code.org/courses https://studio.code.org/courses https://codekingdoms.com/ https://codekingdoms.com/ https://codecombat.com/ https://codecombat.com/
- ajaxguy 7y ago
  Thanks. Tynker looks good and will try with that.

electronstudio 7y ago

I have been teaching kids games programming with Python. I have compiled some of the material I created into a book here: https://github.com/electronstudio/pygame-zero-book https://github.com/electronstudio/pygame-zero-book The only way I have found to maintain interest is to do fewer toy examples and more full-size games, but that also inevitably leads to the kids not understanding so much of what they are doing. I think ultimately you have to accept that some kids will be interested in coding and some will not, no matter how 'fun' you make it.

sn9 7y ago

How to Design Programs and Realm of Racket.

McKayDavis 7y ago

I recommend you take a look at Roblox Studio [1]. My 10yo started out by building simple 3D Obby (obstacle course) games in a manner of minutes with no initial programming. Trough that initial interest he will now modify and even create Lua scripts to perform more complex game actions. The Lua scripting engine + API is simple but at the same time powerful and allows for very complex games. There is also a quite active Roblox Developer forum [2], and good documentation of their API [3]. I don't push him much, and allow him to learn Lua / programming in gneral at his own pace. The game aspect definitely keeps his interest that I'm not so sure he would otherwise have. [1] https://roblox.com/create https://roblox.com/create [2] https://devforum.roblox.com https://devforum.roblox.com [3] https://developer.roblox.com https://developer.roblox.com Disclaimer: I work for Roblox on the Studio team now. This is largely due to my positive experience with Roblox Studio well before I even considered working for the company.

ajaxguy 7y ago
He works on chromebook and this studio doesn't have web version it seems. Do you have any alternative to it?

lurker2 7y ago

You should take a look at Processing 3 (a graphical Java). My dad introduced me to it at about 12yrs. All he did was give me a YouTube playlist to work through and it has held my interest till this day. I would say any framework with a narrow focus on graphics and instant graphical feedback (like SFML for C++) would be great for kids or any beginner. Also, Khan Academy has great resources based on ProcessingJS and even a simple submission board with a community of other young learners.

0_gravitas 7y ago

might be a bit of a wildcard, but i would consider checking out Factorio. may god help your kid if he actually gets into it though

maynman 7y ago

Shameless plug, but I've written a few simple game tutorials on my blog. Minesweeper, Snake, Tic Tac Toe, Hangman, etc. https://mitchum.blog/game-tutorials/ https://mitchum.blog/game-tutorials/