Earlier this year, when I started teaching programming to my kids (4 and 6 yrs old at the time of this writing), I was not sure where to start because you need to translate lots of knowledge that is usually targeted for adults into kids friendly language. I found these two books that really helped with this task, and I highly recommend them if you want to get your kids into coding as well.

Coding Games In Scratch

What is Scratch?

Scratch is a project of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab, free of charge, which helps create interactive stories, games, and animations. You can learn more here.

Who this book is for: Although it's targeted for children 8 - 12 with no coding experience, this book is perfect if you want to start children as young as 4 years old by sitting with them and going through the exercises together. The first few pages provide insightful knowledge about games, like what makes a good game, types of games, game characters, etc, and the step-by-step instructions are easy to follow. No coding experience required.

Order: Coding Games in Scratch

Hello Ruby: Adventures In Coding

The author, Linda Liukas, is a programmer, storyteller, and illustrator from Helsinki, Finland, and this book is the product of one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns for children's books. What is so great about it is, as you may imagine, it combines great story with great visuals to take you on a programming journey. Also, it contains fun "offline" activities. Click on the image to learn more.

Who this book is for: Recommended for children 4 - 8 years old. I feel that this book is perfect for parents who will be reading and doing the activities with their children, specially when no experience in programming is something to factor in. But even if you have a Computer Science or Engineering background, you may benefit from the language and images used in the book. Definitely a good place to start before jumping into Scratch.

Order: Hello Ruby: Adventures in Coding

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Photo by Johnny McClung on Unsplash