Coding games for kids: which ones teach, and what to do after

Coding games for kids fall into three kinds: puzzle games that make a kid write commands to solve a level (Lightbot, Hour of Code tutorials), creative tools where a kid builds their own game (Scratch), and screen-free games that act out a program with cards or a body. The first kind is the easiest start, and the second teaches the most. In Kubrio's How to build a robot course in the Robotics Studio, a kid writes the program that makes a robot move, which is the same skill a coding game practises, pointed at something they built.

Below is what each kind does well, where each one stops, and how to get a kid from playing to making.

Which coding games are free?

Most of the best-known ones are. You don't need to buy anything to find out whether your kid likes this.

• Scratch is free. Its official About page says it is a project of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab, provided free of charge, and designed especially for ages 8 to 16. Kids snap blocks together to make games, stories, and animations.
• Code.org's Hour of Code is a free one-hour introduction to computer science. Code.org's Hour of Code page describes self-guided tutorials that run in a browser, with no signup needed for students. Some of them are themed around games and characters kids already know.
• Lightbot has a free app, Lightbot: Code Hour, with 20 levels, and a younger version, Lightbot Jr, for ages 4 to 8. The developer's App Store listing says the levels build understanding of procedures, loops, and conditionals. A review from BYU says the 20 puzzles are split into 8 Basics, 6 Procedures, and 6 Loops, using four commands: move, light, rotate, and jump. Check the app's current price and in-app purchases before you download; they change.
• A screen-free game costs a pencil and some index cards. More on that below.

What does a coding puzzle game actually teach?

A puzzle game teaches a kid to break a goal into exact steps, in order. In Lightbot, the robot only does what the commands say, so a kid who writes "move, move, turn" and lands one tile short has found a bug. The game then asks for the next idea: a loop, so the same steps repeat without writing them out again.

That is real and useful. It is also a guided path. The levels are made for the kid, the answer is one of a few, and when the levels run out the learning stops. A puzzle game is a good first hour. It is a poor third month.

If your kid enjoys one, the free course What is a loop in coding takes the same idea (do it again) and has the kid use it in a robot program of their own.

Is Scratch a game or a tool?

Scratch is a tool, and that is why it lasts. Nobody hands a kid levels. They decide what happens: a character that jumps, a score that goes up, a game that ends. Scratch's own About page says it helps young people learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively.

The catch is the blank page. A kid who says "I don't know what to make" on day one often quits. Three things help:

1. Make a tiny first game: one character, one goal, one way to lose.
2. Draw it on paper first. Where does the player start? What do they touch? What happens then?
3. Change one rule at a time and play it again.

Kafai and Burke, in their MIT Press book Connected Gaming, argue for a shift from game playing toward game making. Publisher descriptions of the book say they find that student-designed games teach technical skills like programming along with other subjects, and that they favour a mix of making and playing, not dropping play. That matches what most parents see at home: a kid who makes a game asks harder questions than a kid who plays one.

What are the best screen-free coding games?

The best ones turn a kid's body or a handful of cards into a computer. They are quick and they work for ages 5 to 8, before reading and typing get in the way. Three to try:

• Human robot. One person is the robot and only follows exact commands: "two steps forward, turn right." The commander has to be precise. When the robot walks into a chair, the program had a bug.
• Arrow cards. Draw a grid on paper, put a coin on a start square, and write a path with arrow cards (up, down, left, right). Your kid lays the cards down, you move the coin, and you both see where it ends up. Add a "repeat 3 times" card and you have a loop.
• Rock, paper, if-then. Make up a rule such as "if the card is red, take two steps; if blue, stand still," and play it out. That is a decision, the same idea as an if-statement.

When your kid is ready for the screen version of the last one, the What is an if statement in coding course gives them a robot that decides for itself.

Do coding games make kids better at coding?

They help a kid start, and the evidence for more is mixed, so keep the claim small. Puzzle games practise sequencing and finding bugs. They don't, by themselves, teach a kid to design a program from nothing. That takes a project that is theirs.

This is also why the same kid can race through twenty Lightbot levels and then freeze in front of a blank Scratch project. The skills are related but not the same. One is following a trail, the other is making one.

How do I get my kid from playing to making?

Add one step: after a game, ask "what would you change?" Then let them change it. Here is a path that costs nothing:

• Week 1: play a puzzle game for twenty minutes and talk about the level that took longest.
• Week 2: play the human-robot game. Swap roles.
• Week 3: build something small and theirs: a Scratch game, a paper game with rules, or a robot that follows a program.
• Week 4: ask a family member to play it, and fix the first thing that confuses them.

Kubrio's How to start coding: your first program course is one place to start on the making side: the kid orders the steps of a robot program, and the AI crew asks questions instead of writing it for them. It's one option; Scratch and the paper games above stand fine on their own.

What should I watch for?

Check three things in any coding game. Can your kid keep going after the levels end? Do they make decisions, or follow a trail? And is it free to try, with no surprise purchase? A game that ticks the first two is worth the time. One that stops after the tutorial is a puzzle, which is fine, as long as you know that's what it is.

Cap the time too. Twenty to thirty minutes of puzzle play, then something with hands in it, keeps the game a starting point rather than the activity.

What to do at home this week

1. Ask your kid, "What's a game you'd like to make?" Write down what they say.
2. Play twenty minutes of a free puzzle game together: Lightbot Jr for ages 4 to 8, or an Hour of Code tutorial for older kids.
3. Play the human-robot game at dinner. Swap who is the robot.
4. Draw their game idea on paper: start, goal, one thing that can go wrong.
5. Build the smallest version you can in under an hour, with paper or Scratch.
6. Play it, find one thing that confuses the player, and fix only that.

FAQ

What age can kids start coding games? Lightbot Jr is made for ages 4 to 8, and Scratch is designed especially for ages 8 to 16 according to its makers. Screen-free games with cards or a human robot work from about 5.

Are coding games enough to learn to code? They are a good start but not the whole path. Puzzle games practise sequencing and loops; making your own project is where kids learn to design a program from nothing.

What is the best free coding game for kids? It depends on age. For ages 4 to 8, try Lightbot Jr or a screen-free game; for 8 and up, Scratch or a Code.org Hour of Code tutorial. All can be tried without paying, though check an app's in-app purchases first.

Is it okay if my kid only plays and never makes anything? For a while, yes. If they have stopped growing, add the "what would you change?" question and a small project of their own.

Do I need to know how to code to help? No. Ask "what do you think will happen?" and "what would you change?" and let your kid do the typing and the thinking.