[ksab]

My 4 year old made his first program using Scratch Jr.

What was this program?

He made a story where cats jump up and down 25 times and then walk away. He recorded sound effects for the cats that repeated as the cats jump.

It’s simple but offers so much more of a creative outlet than games/educational apps aimed at his age group.

[efitz]

I bought a subscription to CodeSpark Academy and my kid has spent literally hundreds of hours on it over the last few years. He’s 9 now but started at 5 or 6. It allows him to do exactly the kind of things you describe- simple animations with kid-provided sound effects, a simple visual building block programming language, etc. I think that the key advantage of these types of systems is that they allow kids to do things that kids like (animated cats, poop noises, whatever) right off the bat. Getting enough python skill to do these kinds of things would take many hours of learning.

[meterplech]

This is really cool. Out of curiosity - how did you actually set this up for him to use? Was it on tablet or a computer or phone? Any suggestions for a dad of a 3.5 year old?

Also, is he reading / at what level? Trying to get a feel for when I can introduce it to him.

[ksab]

We’re using an iPad. It’s theoretically aimed at older children (5+) but my son was able to pick it up no problem.

I sat down with mine about 6 months ago (he was 3.75 at the time) and we learned what each of the blocks did and how to combine them.

Now he asks to make a program and can do it independently.

He experiments with the backgrounds, sound effects, loops and motion.

My son can read but knowing how to count/recognize numbers is more important in this interface. Everything is graphical. Loops require a number input.

Another toy aimed at older children that younger ones can play with is snap circuits. We introduced the toy at 3. He can copy the project schematic and build the project. He built the AM radio project independently.

[meterplech]

Really helpful - thanks for the details!

[ryanjshaw]

Thanks for mentioning this option -- much easier to use for early readers!