Coding has fast become one of the most interesting and desirable skills for the future.
Now, it is much easier than ever for kids to learn to program, with the availability of good child-friendly coding apps.
This article has compiled a list of the best coding apps for kids.
The featured programming apps are very simple to use and will have your young fellows learning to code even before they know how to read.
These new coding games for children make coding very imaginative and fun.
It is important to note that coding is not only about technical skills; knowing how to code also introduces young minds to creative thinking and building logic.
These child-friendly coding apps teach simple skills like patience, problem-solving, persistence, and creativity through riddles, puzzles, coding games, and challenges.
Why Should Your Kids Learn to Code?
Since the first line of code was written, coding has played a pivotal role in our lives.
Today, even when we are not paying attention, codes run to make our lives easier.
Everything from the simple mobile apps we use on our smartphones to all of the programs we use at the office or even the ATM down your street is a product of code.
These things use code to shape how we carry out our daily activities.
The idea that young people need to learn to code is nothing new.
In fact, since the inception of tech giants like Google, Amazon, and Facebook, coding has been pivotal to the creation of a wide variety of coding education programs and nonprofits.
Why coding is important
That part is quite easy—once you are marketable, you have leverage. You find it easier to take more risks and bounce back if things do not go as expected.
Before now, people would assume it was better to wait until your child had to choose a degree program before encouraging them to consider coding, but things have changed. Nothing holds us back from starting right away, and we should.
Coding or programming skills are useful in professional circumstances and every aspect of a young child’s future.
Below are 24 coding apps for kids between 3 and 15 and above that you will love to try.
Best coding apps for kids between 3-15+
1. Coding Safari
- Platform: iOS
- Ages: 2 years old and older
- Cost: Charge-Free (in-app purchases)
You’ll love Coding Safari, a unique coding app that you can download to teach children from the age of two and older the fundamentals of coding!
Coding Safari focuses primarily on pre-coding skills such as problem-solving, computational thinking, and decomposition thinking. It is both engaging and highly educational.
You could consider this game for the little coders in your life!
2. Kodable
- Platform: iOS
- Ages: from 6 years and older
- Cost: The basic version is Free, but Kodable Pro costs $6.99 a month
In this app, the Fuzz family is noticed to have crash-landed on Smeeborg and has to explore the numerous mazes of their newfound planet.
To help this stranded family get through each maze and gather coins, children have to use programming logic to drag and drop the right commands.
Kodable helps introduce students to the basics of computer programming through step-by-step instruction games, loops, and if/then statements.
What makes Kodable Pro different from the basic version is the added resources, guidance, and lessons for parents to help their children learn.
3. Playosmo
- Platform: iOS & Amazon fire
- Ages: from 5-10 years old
- Cost: only $78
Osmo is a unique game for kids. Here, children use physical blocks connected to the computer via the Osmo tablet instead of the drag-and-drop blocks on a device screen.
There are two coding apps in total and a wide range of extra games for the console, which are more pocket-friendly in packages and sets.
There is also coding Awbie, where kids use code blocks to guide a cute monster through challenges.
Also available is Coding Jam, where kids use code blocks to create catchy jams with samples and beats.
4. Algorithm City
- Platform: Android
- Ages: from age 5 and older
- Cost: Free
Algorithm City is a coding game with 3D graphics. Players can select an animal to represent their character.
It is designed to teach basic coding concepts that are perfect for young children to grasp.
Kids will be able to learn command sequencing, functions and loops, and lots more.
This online game aims to guide your chosen character by gathering gold and solving levels.
5. Lego Boost
Lego Boost is a mobile app that allows children to build various Lego models and go further to program them with code.
Students can easily program the models to make cool sounds and even move using the enabled drag-and-drop code.
This specific set helps kids build five different Lego models: a cat, a robot, a guitar, a Lego-building machine, and a mouse on a car.
This set is very expensive, but it is quite versatile and built with a system that every kid is already familiar with—Lego building blocks.
6. Coding For Kids: Learn To Code
Code for Kids is an app specially designed for young kids and focuses on loops, simple sequences, functions, arrays, debugging, and coordinates.
The game is animated and has a 2D layout. It has catchy colors and simple games focused on helping kids build individual skills.
7. Tynker
The Tynker app offers a much more extensive platform than most other programs featured on this list.
It is mostly used in elementary school curriculums. With the Tynker app, students can create their animations and mobile apps through drag-and-drop puzzles.
They can then expand to teach children Javascript, Python, and Swift.
8. Nancy Drew: Codes & Clues – Mystery Coding Game
Nancy Drew: Codes & Clues is a simple narrative-based mobile game where players search for clues and other ‘evidence’ to solve a mystery.
You can do this by dragging visual code blocks to move your bot around.
Here, some girlfriends set out to solve a mystery with super cool costumes and a very interesting story.
This one is designed to be more appealing for girls and is fun!
9. Code Karts
Code Kart is a game primarily about cars racing around a unique custom-made track.
Users make do with the drag-and-drop option to build tracks with color matching in the game’s first 10 levels.
Using the $1.99 upgrade, you can open 60 more levels designed to build upon each other.
10. Think and Learn: Code-a-Pillar
- Platform: Android
- Ages: From 3-6 years old
- Cost: available for free (Toy is optional)
Think and Learn is designed around a beautiful, brightly colored caterpillar so smart that it teaches very young kids sequencing through the drag-and-drop style.
The app works great whether or not you use the accompanying Fisher-Price caterpillar toy.
However, the toy adds a more experimental and interactive form of play.
11. Lightbot
Lightbot is one of the few coding games for kids that appear more challenging.
Don’t be fooled by the cute animated robot; the upper levels can be even more challenging for adults.
While the Lightbot game starts with beginning levels, it remains the perfect app for students whizzing through other programs.
12. Daisy the Dinosaur
- Platform: iPad
- Ages: between 5-7 years old
- Cost: Free
All you have to do here is make the cute Daisy the dinosaur move, jump, and dance with the featured drag-and-drop commands.
Here, Daisy the Dinosaur teaches you basic coding concepts such as sequencing and conditionals in a fun little challenge.
13. Box Island
- Platform: iOS
- Ages: between the ages of 5-10 years old
- Cost: between $2.99 – $7.99
Box Island feels more like a video game than many others featured here. The graphics and animation are awe-inspiring.
This features drag-and-drop gameplay that teaches your kids basic coding logic and problem-solving skills through narrative gameplay.
14. ScratchJr
ScratchJr. is a virtual open world where children can design their drawings and use drag-and-drop code to create games and animations.
The ScratchJr. app focuses on helping kids build coding skills while using students’ natural creativity.
Here, characters can be programmed to jump, move, dance, and sing.
Children even have the option to record their voices for the animation.
15. Spritebox
- Platform: iOS
- Ages: between 5-7 years old
- Cost: from $2.99 to $3.99
Spritebox is an advanced coding game designed in a 2D Super Mario style that gradually teaches children actual code.
Here, the Kids have to switch from drag-and-drop pictures to using syntax over many levels, and the challenges range from relatively basic to very advanced.
Unlike many apps featured on this list, Spritebox follows an interesting narrative adventure that keeps children interested and engaged.
16. Go for Dash & Dot robots
- Platform: iOS & Android
- Ages: between 6-12 years old
- Cost: Free ( you can check the app for the price of Dash)
There are so many coding robots for children here. Dash and Dot remain one of the best coding apps for children because they are versatile and have options that support commands with sounds and timers.
The Dash bot makes it easy for kids to access tech knowledge and provides expander packs that will help Dash grow with your kid’s skill level. Dash is a voice-activated app that navigates objects.
The Dash app helps to build confident digital competencies in children with their 5 Free Programming STEM Mobile Apps.
17. Cargo-Bot
- Platform: iOS
- Ages: 10 years and older
- Cost: Free
Cargo-Bot is an easy puzzle game in which a kid uses a robotic arm to transport colored boxes into set designs.
This is a very visual game and does not involve writing any code. Students who use this app will learn to sequence by selecting the preset actions of the robotic arm and arranging them in the right order.
18. Run Marco
- Platform: iOS
- Ages: between 6-12 years old
- Cost: Free
In Run Marco, students control their characters by dragging and dropping code blocks.
The game uses simple commands such as “move one step forward” and “repeat” to assist students in learning how to sequence actions.
When you press play, your assigned character will follow the steps! Kids will have to learn the best way to modify their code to beat the task at hand.
Kids can design their level in this game for a more advanced twist.
19. Hopscotch-Programming for kids
- Platform: iOS
- Ages: from 8- 17 years old
- Cost: only $7.99 per month
Hopscotch is one of the most famous coding apps for kids because it uses both artistic and STEM skills.
It is a versatile app with numerous options for creating stories using designs, characters, and illustrations.
This app is ideal for creative students. The Hopscotch app rewards kids for learning basic coding logic without paying attention to the boring bits.
It uses a drag-and-drop interface that is both engaging and visually stimulating.
20. Mimo
With this coding app for teens, rather than teaching Swift directly, app users are taught via building an iOS app.
Also, unlike the other applications we have featured in this list, Mimo is particularly designed with the end-to-end in mind and teaches basic programming, CSS, HTML, JavaScript, Swift, and so much more with the aid of experiential lessons.
21. SoloLearn
SoloLearn is a mobile app best suited for older students. It features a long list of programming languages, such as C, C++, CSS, JavaScript, and Python.
The courses are designed to start with the basic foundations of each programming language and gradually build as you progress through the levels.
The unique feature that makes SoloLearn different from others is the available code challenges against actual opponents that let you test your skills in comparison to real-life people.
22. Swift Playgrounds
- Platform: iPad
- Ages: kids from 10-13 years and older
- Cost: Free
Swift Playgrounds is one of Apple’s collections of mobile coding games. It is designed to teach Swift, a programming language specially used to build apps.
Here, the main game requires players to guide an adorable character through different challenges in a beautiful 3D world.
The game is designed to integrate with other apps and can even control bots that are not for Apple, such as Lego robots and Dash and Sphero.
23. Programming Hub
Programming Hub is a good choice for older or more advanced students who want to progress beyond their basic skills.
This mobile app offers 20 languages for learners to choose from in simple mini-lessons and challenges that make coding more approachable and simple to learn.
So, guys, these are some of the best coding apps for kids that you may find useful. It is never too early to equip your kids with the requisite knowledge to thrive in the modern workplace.
Who knows, you just might be grooming a genius with these apps, which are either free or affordable.
