While I don’t think that it’s essential to turn everything princess-themed to get girls coding and engineering, I do think that relatable themes and properties, whatever they may be, will bring more female enthusiasts into the fray. My own girls love Minecraft, they love Frozen, and they loooove playing on the computer. So I give a big thumbs up to code.org, which just collaborated with Disney to introduce an officially licensed, very well-done Anna and Elsa from Frozen coding program for kids.
In fact, it may be the only thing that actually gives them a break from Minecraft these days.
Visit the website, watch the (really inspiring) starter video, and get your kids–yes, boys too–ready for an hour of coding fun.
And it is fun! By the end, kids will have programmed their favorite Arendelle sisters to ice ice skate in cool geometric snowflake shapes and have the pride of completing 20 “puzzles” which lead to the final result. Such a smart way to keep kids excited, and from getting overwhelmed.
While still in beta, I find it fairly impressive, with clear instructions, graphical prompts, and rah-rah “you can do it/ you did it wrong but you can fix it” notes, making it an amazingly accessible introduction to coding for grade-school kids who may not have shown an interest before. They can even share their results with friends and family afterwards.
And hey, don’t be surprised if your younger kids pick it up before you do. Bless our little digital natives.
Visit code.org for the Frozen coding program now in beta and learn more about the Hour of Code campaign, designed to get more school-aged kids wring code.
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