As of 2014, codeSpark Academy is an educational software for children aged 5 to 9 that uses games to teach coding concepts in a conceptual and highly visual manner.
For kids ages 8 and above, codeSpark Academy is a drag-and-drop coding platform that teaches youngsters how to solve puzzles and challenges using drag-and-drop coding, play minigames, or create their own video games and animated stories.
The codeSpark Academy recommends that students be between the ages of five and nine. As a result, we believe the curriculum is best suited for children aged 5 to 8. It’s an appealing coding application for younger kids because of its colorful, game-like universe, interesting characters, extensive game development possibilities, and multisensory, word-free interface.
Children as young as nine can benefit from codeSpark’s creative game and story building features, but once they’ve mastered the skills of reading, following instructions, and handling more complex sequential thinking and logic problems (around the age of nine or so), they can usually take advantage of more advanced kid-friendly programs like Scratch (or Scratch-like block coding) or even begin using written c.
To sign up for codeSpark, there are two options: a subscription or purchasing it as a present. CodeSpark costs $9.99 per month as a subscription (or $6.67 per month if you pick an annual plan), making it considerably more reasonable than most other coding programs, which may start at approximately $20 per month.
It’s important for parents to be aware that these subscriptions automatically renew, so if you decide to stop using them, you’ll be charged again. You may buy codeSpark as a gift with either a 6-month, 12-month, or lifetime plan if you want a more time-limited option. It’s worth noting that gift plans are more expensive per month than subscriptions, but they don’t automatically renew.
The Foos (the official name of the software is codeSpark Academy with the Foos) are a cast of amusing cartoon characters that youngsters may engage with. Children of all ages will feel at ease in this environment because of the variety of vocations performed by both male and female characters.
Kids may construct their own unique Foo and give themselves a wacky name after they have their own account set up. Their time at codeSpark Academy will begin after that.
Playing puzzles (which is where kids gain points, acquire badges, and learn crucial concepts) or playing mini-games, or creating their own tales and games are all options from the main menu.
CodeSpark’s puzzles area is a good place for most youngsters to begin learning to code. During this time, children learn the basics of coding and learn about how the controls and interface of a computer program are organized. As in a video game, there are stages and degrees of difficulty and learning material that increase over time in the puzzle part.
All of the stages are labeled with helpful captions that explain each stage’s underlying coding concepts, such as events and loops. There are several stages at each stage, each with a few puzzles or chores the youngster must do.
In most cases, a youngster must overcome obstacles in order to achieve a certain objective (or aim) in one of these games. To do this, children must correctly arrange the toolbar’s visual instructions by dragging and dropping them. Puzzles often begin with a very simple level of complexity, allowing children to develop a feel for the environment, before gradually increasing in difficulty.
A student’s grade is increased if he or she uses only one line of code to solve a task. With this, kids are awarded three stars, which they can redeem for various products that can be utilized in the future (dynamite or keys). Lunch Crunch, for example, is a stage where students focus on understanding conditionals. To begin, kids must only be able to physically serve meals to various Foos while assisting chef Foo.
As they become older, children can use the “if” conditional operator to help them remember to serve the correct orders in order. Using this method, they may automatically take orders from characters that have no idea what they want. Thus, the instructions are linked one after the other until they form a rudimentary IF/THEN program capable of serving a full menu.
As a result of solving this problem, youngsters not only learn about the importance of coding conditional statements but also how they may be used to make our lives easier and more efficient. In the end, codeSpark uses a mastery technique approach to learning how to code through the part of the puzzle. When a stage is completed, a child unlocks the next one, preventing them from skipping stages or losing out on essential concepts.
When it comes to teaching younger students, this is important since it breaks down tough topics into more manageable pieces so that they may be more easily comprehended. Because kids are awarded for generating efficient code with stars and stuff, it encourages youngsters to plan and consider things in advance rather than simply participating in trial and error. We believed the application did a good job of making things easy for pupils to learn by letting them go through the first few levels using manual commands before providing them with access to code snippets. Code is all about making life simpler and chores more efficient, and this command displays this perfectly.
As a result of solving this problem, youngsters not only learn about the importance of coding conditional statements but also how they may be used to make our lives easier and more efficient. Mastery-based learning is achieved through the puzzles part of codeSpark.
For the sake of preventing students from skipping ahead and losing out on important concepts, they begin at the very beginning of each stage and must finish all levels of that stage before they can “unlock” the next. This is advantageous because it streamlines instruction for younger students by reducing complex ideas into smaller, more digestible chunks, and ensuring that students have a firm grasp of the content before going on.
Because kids are awarded for generating efficient code with stars and stuff, it encourages youngsters to plan and consider things in advance rather than simply participating in trial and error.
In terms of training, we believed the application did an excellent job of letting users get their feet wet with manual instructions before providing them with code snippets they may utilize to speed things up. Code is all about making life simpler and chores more efficient, and this command displays this perfectly.
As cute as codeSpark Academy appears, we believe that young children may actually learn quite a deal from it. Kids can and can learn the principles and concepts underlying coding even if they are not exposed to any written code through various puzzles, games, and easily accessible drag-and-drop activities.
This course will teach students the fundamentals of computer programming, such as how to utilize loops, conditionals, and other control structures, as well as how to handle events and functions, among other things. We believe codeSpark’s puzzles may help youngsters build better problem-solving and reasoning abilities, while the creative and open nature of its game type fosters planning, creativity, and tenacity.
The number of applications aimed at teaching computer programming to children as young as eight is extremely small, and those that do it successfully are even rarer. At roughly $10 a month, we believe codeSpark is able to accomplish this, and they do it without breaking the bank. CodeSpark’s reading-free and highly visual nature makes it fairly accessible to younger kids and those who struggle to read, even if some parental participation may be necessary if youngsters get stuck or need help linking the game to the underlying principles.
For youngsters in this age range, the program’s 3D cell-shaded cell animations and funny humor, and gamified components make it incredibly appealing and entertaining (and even for adults). There are hundreds of puzzles and minigames to choose from, as well as a creative area where youngsters may experiment with their own ideas and share them with others.
It’s a lot of fun, but it also teaches you the basics of coding, such as loops, conditions, boolean logic, and sequences. Additionally, codeSpark stresses the significance of coding in making life easier and explains the relevance of coding in a way that youngsters can grasp. When it comes to subscription-based services, you’ll need to cancel before the end of your term or they’ll rebill and reactivate your account, which is something we don’t appreciate.
Increasingly, parents in today’s tech-forward environment are interested in teaching their children how to understand technology as early as possible by learning how to code.
When it comes to teaching your child how to code, codeSpark is one of the best solutions on the market and it won’t cost you a fortune.
