CodeMonkey – Coding for Children

 Coding for children is the new literacy! We have said this before, but we’d like to emphasis. Digital platforms are the new canvases for kids. With games, designs, and writing, children can express themselves in wonderful ways, and coding helps them do all that and more.

Code languages for children are the new paint brushes, pencils and colours. They empower kids to bring their imaginations to life in a very intuitive manner. There are endless possibilities to create with coding for children. Only your imagination is the limit.

CodyMonkey is a problem-solving coding platform, where kids have to move a Monkey around to fetch all the bananas stolen by a gorilla. To complete a challenge, one has to write codes to make the monkey collect all the bananas. The language used for this game is Coffee Script, which has been presented in a very simple manner for kids, and children learn the coding language while completing 250 free challenges available in the game.

The humorous appreciation or feedback kids get along the way are fun. The lesser number of attempts kids takes to complete the challenge, the higher score/stars they get. I feel that the stars and the appreciation given at the end of each challenge are a wonderful way to motivate kids.

Once students have learnt the basics of Coffee scripts through the game, they can move on to create art and games using their knowledge. In the Game Builder section of CodeMonkey, the students can code their own apps and games.

Coffee script is in compliance with java script. They both are primarily used for web applications. Hence, the platform teaches kids important computer science concepts like loops, conditions, variable and functions.

CodeMonkey enhances students’ cognitive skills, and emphasises on problem-solving and creativity. The platform is designed to impart multiple-step, critical and analytical thinking. It is one of the best platforms that teach coding for kids.

Game Building with CodeMonkey – Coding for Children

With the Game Builder, teachers can lead a class to code art and games. It’s a self-paced and auto-assessed platform, and is easy to implement in the classroom. Children can use Coffee script to build games for computers and mobile devices, and share them on the platform.

The platform first guides students through various learning to code courses—Platformer for game design, interface design, and keyboard functions; Frogger for learning to create a game for the touch environment of mobile and tablet devices; Sprite Animations for learning to animate and use characters in games.

Upon mastering these three courses, students can create their own computer or mobile games in the CodeMonkey’s Challenge Builder using Coffee Script and share them with the world!

To access more challenges (total 400) and Game builder, including Game design courses, and Challenge builder, individual students can subscribe to a $39 annual subscription, which is totally worth it considering the skills a student will learn.

CodeMonkey for Teachers

With the teacher’s kit, anyone can teach the basics of computer science to children. Teachers get 35 lesson plans that help them lead students to learn cognitive skills, and cultivate logical and creative thinking in kids by teaching them application of coding to create stuff.