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Getting kids (6-10) started witg programming and game dev
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this post was submitted on 11 Sep 2026
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Game Development
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Isn't this what scratch is made for? Kids learning programming.
yep. Scratch is one option I'm considering.
Probably okay for the 10 year old but let the 6 year old find it by themselves if the sibling picks it up or try when they're around 10yo.
Scratch is a fantastic entry point. That's where I was put on the path for a software development career.
Someone else mentioned Lego. If you can find the Mindstorms robotics set, that would be a great place. I know they're not cheap at retail and I don't know if they're still offered. But it's a way to get introduced into visual coding but with a physical aspect still.
Heck, even a a Lego motor set like this and some gears and wheels will do a lot for problem solving skills.
Totally agree. I thought about robotics stuff a lot for them. They got hyped when I created a synth with a rpi pico. Maybe I'll buy them an arduino kids robotics kit.
the benefit of the software first approach is that it costs nothing and shows them you don't need to buy stuff to create things neccesarily.
Didn't think of an Arduino kit but that would be a good low cost entry as well. You don't even need to program it to start. Just basic circuits with switches and lights is a great education tool.
I've always found it weird that Arduino has its own language. On top of it, it's not a really well designed one in the sense that it does not follow a simple paradigm where there are few basic fundamentals and from there it's only vocabulary.