Makey Makey is another fun bit of hardware for kids. Works great with scratch too, have them make their own scratch game then use makey makey to build their own controller
orrefailaT
joined 1 year ago
Thanks for the clarification! Yeah I think you’re right that running python on a github page isn’t possible (at least not straightorward). Replit might be closer to what you’re looking for in that regard. I love it because it handles setting up your programming environment for you and lets you dive right into what you actually want to do (write and run code). Sharing the link to your project lets anyone open it up and run it in their browser!
In a similar vein, if there are no local teams near you, getting some sort of microcontroller that runs micropython could be fun too. I’m a big fan of microbit for younger kids, lots of options for lights and sounds, with a few pins for adding sensors/buttons etc.
Github Pages would be a great way to get something like that up and running on the web! If your kid is wanting to just play around without diving into git or deployment, creating a text file ending in .html and opening it with a browser is probably the easiest way to get started.
Seconding the linked Khan Academy course, i taught a class for a few years that followed those lessons. The lessons are a little outdated, but they’re perfectly suitable for learning fundamental JS syntax.
The visual aspect, imo, is super helpful when first learning. Being able to see the results of your code makes understanding what’s happening way easier. Additionally, those lessons provide hints and friendly reminders to help with syntax errors.
Those lessons in particular use a JS library called P5.js if you want to play around with it outside of the Khan Academy environment. More than enough for making a simple game, and the documentation is pretty great too.
Every npm package gets downloaded into your brain, immediately collapses into a black hole