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Definitely Scratch (https://scratch.mit.edu/ https://scratch.mit.edu/), I would say. It's a drag-and-drop, graphical programming environment designed specifica

by veddox 11y ago

Definitely Scratch (https://scratch.mit.edu/ https://scratch.mit.edu/), I would say. It's a drag-and-drop, graphical programming environment designed specifically for kids of that age group. It teaches them about conditionals, iteration, a bit of object-orientation, and makes it very easy to build relatively sophisticated games/animations within a pretty short amount of time. I've had good experiences with it with kids of that age group, many really enjoy it.

542458 11y ago
I think that this is the best choice. A lot of people are recommending "real" (albeit simpler) game making tools, but I think that those would be a mistake. At 12 his biggest obstacle is going to be becoming bored, not the skill ceiling of the tool. Scratch provides that instant visual output, skips the frustration of learning syntax, and has a large online library of other's creations for inspiration and learning. Side though: scratch style programming inside minecraft has the potential to be awesome educationally. Somebody steal this idea (unless it already exists).
- hathawsh 11y ago
  http://learntomod.com http://learntomod.com My kids and I have tried it and we like it a lot. Lots of tutorials and ideas. Easily worth more than $30/year.
- ravisarma 11y ago
  I wonder however about the opposite effect. I think it was Bertrand Russell who said that boredom is an essential part of doing good work and learning to accept it an important part of getting good at something. If we make things too easy, flashy and fun for kids there is, I fear, the likelihood of setting wrong expectations, which will in short order sabotage the child's interest and effort.
drallison 11y ago
Scratch is a good choice. My 10 year-old granddaughter was able to create her own game on her own. One word of warning--the concurrency model is not well explained (or implemented) and so games can have race conditions that are difficult to debug.

by veddox 11y ago

542458 11y ago

I think that this is the best choice. A lot of people are recommending "real" (albeit simpler) game making tools, but I think that those would be a mistake. At 12 his biggest obstacle is going to be becoming bored, not the skill ceiling of the tool. Scratch provides that instant visual output, skips the frustration of learning syntax, and has a large online library of other's creations for inspiration and learning. Side though: scratch style programming inside minecraft has the potential to be awesome educationally. Somebody steal this idea (unless it already exists).

hathawsh 11y ago
http://learntomod.com http://learntomod.com My kids and I have tried it and we like it a lot. Lots of tutorials and ideas. Easily worth more than $30/year.
ravisarma 11y ago
I wonder however about the opposite effect. I think it was Bertrand Russell who said that boredom is an essential part of doing good work and learning to accept it an important part of getting good at something. If we make things too easy, flashy and fun for kids there is, I fear, the likelihood of setting wrong expectations, which will in short order sabotage the child's interest and effort.

drallison 11y ago

Scratch is a good choice. My 10 year-old granddaughter was able to create her own game on her own. One word of warning--the concurrency model is not well explained (or implemented) and so games can have race conditions that are difficult to debug.