From kitten gifs to Minecraft modding, these online games make coding fun for kids

The combination of cute kitten gifs, problem-solving scenarios you need to code your way out of, and a captivating fantastical world make this game a hit for the whole family — it’s really good fun. The Mario-style, web-based game is appealingly laid out, designed to ignite girls’ passions for coding without pandering to any stereotypes. 

According to co-founder Dee Saigal, after playing, 95% of girls aged 8-13 express a desire to learn more about coding. It’s definitely one to watch: The edtech startup has just raised $1 million in seed funding and is available in over 100 countries, as well as 3,000+ schools in the UK and the US. 

The current version teaches basic HTML and URL creation and is free (you just need to register your email). In September 2021, a new, gamified version will launch, which teaches HTML, CSS, and Javascript, as well as educating kids on topics like climate change, fake news and entrepreneurism through interactive dialogue and a cute half-unicorn, half-mermaid character known as Tarquin Glitterquiff. This version costs £29.99.

Google’s Blockly is a great place for coding newbies to start, with eight free online games that teach kids the basics of programming using text-based languages. Kids can use nested loops to paint pictures, make music using functions, utilize math skills to make movies, and more. 

Definitely try the Puzzle game, which involves matching blocks to different animals and making stacks of their traits. The games are ordered by difficulty, and they’re all free to play.

Kano’s coding apps combine animation, gaming, coding and music, and we enjoy the variety of artistic options on offer, from pixel-based art coding games to text-based image creation (both will appeal to visual learners). You’ll need to set up an account, but several of Kano’s creative coding apps are free of charge.The kids will get a kick out of building snack-catching games and drawing their own interpretations of Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour album. The collaborative aspect of creating in a shared space with other kids is another plus.

The premium subscription is $10 a month on club.kano.me(opens in a new tab) and gives kids access to all of the games, as well as step-by-step tutorials and video drops.

Cargo-Bot is a free coding game developed on iPad in 2012, using the iPad coding app, Codea. It’s been downloaded nearly 7 million times (the addictive musical score is reason enough to give it a try). 

You can play it online or download the app: Cargo-Bot includes 36 puzzles that involve coding a robot to move crates. This is a great one if you don’t want to deal with the hassle of registering an email: The game won’t collect any data from you, and there are no ads or in-app purchases to tempt kids. 

Designed to be played on an iPad, Daisy the Dinosaur is a coding game from Hopscotch with a drag-and-drop interface that animates dinosaur Daisy and gets her to dance on screen. It teaches youngsters aged 6-8 the basics of coding – loops, sequencing, objects – and is designed as a pre-Hopscotch coding game for younger players. Once kids have mastered Daisy, they can move on to more advanced Hopscotch activities. Daisy the Dinosaur is free to play. 

Hopscotch the app is designed for kids 10 and older, with both free and Pro versions (Pro is $9.99 a month or $79.99 a year; although the annual plan is currently on sale for $39.99). CEO Samantha John recently appeared on Shark Tank, where she secured a $550K investment for her coding platform. 

The free version has plenty for kids to benefit from, including a library of video-led tutorials, which offer step-by-step guidance on how to code a kaleidoscope or a physics engine. There’s a social aspect, too: Kids can connect to hundreds of thousands of other coders-in-training within the Hopscotch community, who share, publish and play their own games and each other’s (there are millions to choose from). Oh, and did we mention kids can code their own Mario games?

Hopscotch Pro gives kids access to additional perks like a custom avatar, virtual currency to spend on in-game features and digital gifts, as well as the ability to make projects using their own photos and drawings and access to Advanced Mode, which offers multi-scene games, saved variables and premium music.

codeSpark is a learn-to-code gaming platform that targets the younger set with a words-free interface so kids can start coding before they’ve even learned how to read. Developed based on a research-backed curriculum from MIT and Princeton, codeSpark is designed for kids four and up, with a variety of puzzles and games. Once children master the basics of coding with these, they can start creating their own games. 

The games on the app are centered around a group of cute and colorful characters called The Foos; some, like Pet Pals, teach little ones how to use creative problem solving to pick up after lots of pets. While parents will dream that this translates to helpful real-life skills, the kids will enjoy it because there are mini-mountains of animated poop everywhere. After a seven-day free trial, the monthly plan starts at $9.99 per month (the annual plan drops down to $6.67 a month).

Tynker is a widely known coding platform that’s been used by over 80 million students and 100,000 schools. There are over 500 coding puzzles to choose from, appealing to kids of all interests with games like Candy Quest, Dragon Spells and Hot Wheels. There are over 200 tutorials across robotics, game design, storytelling and even Minecraft Mods, and challenges evolve from block-based coding to JavaScript and Python. 

Tynker works across three apps: Tynker Junior (ages 5-7), Tynker (6-11) and Minecraft Mod Creator (6-11). You can try a variety of activities for free with a student account, with 20 coding games and projects, plus access to a private Minecraft server, skins and mods. In order to benefit from all 4,100 of Tynker’s courses and learning modules so your little one can become proficient in coding, subscription plans start at $180 a year (they’re currently on offer for $126).

Designed to teach kids ages 5-11 to code at home and at school, the Kodable platform introduces kids to the fuzzFamily of characters. Kids can invent their own versions of the cute, fuzzy ball creatures, learn to transition from symbol-based coding to written JavaScript or Swift, modify code to create their own games and more. 

Kodable offers a free trial period for seven days, with membership for up to four children then working out to $6.99 a month (this includes access to weekly challenges, hundreds of activities, character creation and more). If you’re keen on the platform but not the price, convince your child’s teacher to try it out: Educators can use Kodable’s beginner games and lessons in the classroom for free.

If you’ve got a Minecraft lover on your hands, then LearnToMod might appeal. The software, which is supported by the National Science Foundation, allows kids to modify their favorite game by coding it to create new versions. Users get access to Minecraft servers they can mod, a schematics builder, texture pack painter, and a Vox-L game engine, as well as lessons in how to make it happen, with a range of tutorials and videos available. LearnToMod is $29.99 a year.